Fox News apologizes to Gold Star family for false story Marine Corps called 'disgusting'

Fox News apologized to the family of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee for an article it published falsely reporting they had to pay $60,000 to transport Gee's remains from California to Arlington National Cemetery after she was killed in Afghanistan, the network said late Saturday. The Marine Corp had contacted Fox News several times about the July 25 article, seeking a full retraction and apology to Gee's family, according to emails obtained by Military.com and The Washington Post.

Fox first modified the article, written by Michael Lee and based on since-retracted allegations from Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), then deleted it. "The now unpublished story has been addressed internally and we sincerely apologize to the Gee family," a Fox News spokesperson said, a month after the story was "unpublished."

"The allegations originally published turned out to be false, which I suspect Mr. Lee knew in the first place, and was the reason he did not seek comment from the Marine Corps," Marine Corps spokesman Maj. James Stenger emailed Fox News executives shortly after the article was published. 

After Fox News changed its headline and tweaked its opening paragraph, Stenger emailed again, saying both were still false. "Using the grief of a family member of a fallen Marine to score cheap clickbait points is disgusting," he wrote. 

Fox News erased the article. "Deleting an entire story is exceedingly rare in news media," CNN Business noted. "Deleting a story without offering readers an explanation or correction is widely considered to be unethical." Fox News declined media requests for comment.

Gee was one of 13 service members killed in a terrorist attack outside Kabul's international airport in August 2021. The Pentagon flew her remains home to California, and a nonprofit, Honoring Our Fallen, paid for the remains to be flown to Arlington.