Kid Rock's chopper scandal hovers over Pentagon power play: report
Kid Rock is at the center of a power play between high-ranking military brass, according to a new report.
Days before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly fired Gen. Randy George as Army chief of staff in April, the four-star general was told by his own second-in-command, Gen. Chris LaNeve, that the Pentagon chief wanted the military's investigation into an unauthorized helicopter flyby of the rock musician's Tennessee estate stopped, three people familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.
The account, reported for the first time, adds a new dimension to the mystery surrounding George's ouster — and puts LaNeve, who is now vying to replace George permanently, directly inside the episode.
George had wanted to follow standard protocol and determine whether safety regulations were violated during the March 28 flyby of Kid Rock's estate, the people said.
LaNeve, the Army's No. 2 officer, conveyed that Hegseth did not want the review to proceed, but George later told colleagues he was troubled by the exchange. George, now retired, declined to comment through a spokesman.
Two AH-64 Apache helicopters buzzed Kid Rock's home outside Nashville at low altitude, footage the 55-year-old musician, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, shared online alongside criticism of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Army officials at Fort Campbell grounded the pilots and opened an investigation, which also examined a helicopter that flew low over a "No Kings" protest against Trump in nearby Clarksville the same day.
Hegseth, however, swiftly shut down the investigation, cleared the aircrews, and later flew in an Apache with Kid Rock himself.
LaNeve's alleged role in relaying Hegseth's wishes could now complicate the very promotion he's seeking.
He has served as acting Army chief of staff for nearly five months, but President Donald Trump has yet to formally nominate him, amid resistance on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Because nominees need unanimous Republican support to advance without Democratic votes, a single holdout can block him — and that holdout, according to three people familiar with Capitol Hill dynamics, is Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a retired Army National Guard officer who was already skeptical of Hegseth's own confirmation and is not seeking re-election.
LaNeve has also faced separate congressional scrutiny, including sharp questioning in May over the Pentagon's cancellation of an Army brigade's deployment to Poland, when he declined to explain the decision, saying he wasn't on the military's "policy side."
Hegseth's spokesman, Sean Parnell, dismissed the new reporting as a "regurgitating" of a "tired, old story," and Hegseth called LaNeve "precisely the kind of leader the U.S. Army needs right now."
Pentagon officials say they are "coordinating with our Senate partners" on timing for a formal nomination.
Hegseth has removed more than two dozen top officers since January 2025, several of whom — including Mingus — were seen as plausible chief-of-staff contenders before their exits.