JUST IN: Pete Hegseth FIRES Top Staffers at Military Newspaper ‘Stars and Stripes’

The Pentagon on Friday moved to fire the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes as well as its retiring publisher and a civilian reporter who covers the Middle East for the news organization.

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— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) August 21, 2026

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The cause cited was insubordination. Slavin and Korte said the alleged insubordination was related to interviews they gave to CBS News for a piece on “CBS Sunday Morning” that aired in July.

In a statement to CBS News, Slavin said he will respond to the firing notice through the required process.

“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination,” Slavin said. “I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”

Slavin spoke publicly about disagreements with Pentagon leaders in the “Sunday Morning” story. In that piece, Slavin was asked if he had any red lines he would not cross. He replied, “‘Don’t run a perfectly accurate story, run this instead. Here it is, written by the Pentagon.’ That would be a red line.”

In a statement, Korte called the firings “a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press.”

“I’m proud of the work my colleagues and I do at Stars and Stripes, especially the last six months covering the protracted conflict in Iran. Military families and service members have trusted us to share their experience with the world and I don’t take that lightly,” she said.

Korte was also featured in the July “Sunday Morning” story, in which she said: “I’m working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker. I’m here to cover the military community.”

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I consider it a great privilege to live alongside members of the military and share their stories. It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press.

— Lara Korte (@lara_korte) August 21, 2026

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I’m proud of the work my colleagues and I do at Stars and Stripes, especially the last six months covering the protracted conflict in Iran. Military families and service members have trusted us to share their experience with the world and I don’t take that lightly.

— Lara Korte (@lara_korte) August 21, 2026

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Today, I was informed that the Department of Defense is firing me for insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.

I consider it a great privilege to live alongside members of the military and share their stories. It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press.

I’m proud of the work my colleagues and I do at Stars and Stripes, especially the last six months covering the protracted conflict in Iran. Military families and service members have trusted us to share their experience with the world and I don’t take that lightly.

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When asked for comment, a Pentagon spokesman cited an open letter to stakeholders penned by Military Deputy to the Publisher Captain William Urban, a portion of which was shared on X by Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

“We may never be able to have the same impact for our service members digitally that our paper had during World War II in a vastly different media environment, but I also believe that we can do better — that we must do better for our most important constituency, the men and women who make up the U.S. Armed Forces,” Urban wrote.

“My vision for the future of Stars and Stripes is simple: More eyeballs on our content and more impact on our service members while maintaining the highest standard of professional journalism with the credibility that comes with editorial independence.”

A spokesperson for Stars and Stripes cited its own report on the firings and declined to comment further. Neither Lederer nor Korte responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

The Pentagon kicked off 2026 by announcing its overhaul of the long-running newspaper.

“The Department of War is returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters,” Parnell posted on X in January. “We are bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century. We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.

“Stars & Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters. It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints. Stars & Stripes has a proud legacy of reporting news that’s important to our service members. The Department of War is committed to ensuring the outlet continues to reflect that proud legacy.”

The Pentagon fired the Stars and Stripes ombudsman in April after being an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s oversight of the paper.

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