Posted on 11/29/2023 11:29:25 AM PST by Red Badger
A story published by Deadspin that accused an underage Kansas City Chiefs fan of racism has imploded more than anyone could have anticipated.
Deadspin senior writer Carron Phillips accused child fan Holden Armenta of wearing blackface at a Chiefs-Raiders game in Las Vegas on Sunday. In an article published Monday with the headline “The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress,” Phillips included a photo that showed only the black-painted side of the child’s face. Other images and video clips show that the other half of Armenta’s face was painted red to display both of the team’s colors.
Armenta also wore the traditional headdress resembling the team logo from the 1960s and early 70s. Without any mention of the red paint or any other context, Phillips accused the team and the National Football League (NFL) of allowing fans to display “racism and hate” at games.
“The answers to all of those questions lead back to the NFL,” Phillips wrote. “While it isn’t the league’s responsibility to stop racism and hate from being taught in the home, they are a league that has relentlessly participated in prejudice. If the NFL had outlawed the chop at Chiefs games and been more aggressive in changing the team’s name, then we wouldn’t be here.”
“There’s no place for a franchise to be called the ‘Chiefs’ in a league that’s already eradicated ‘Redskins,'” he added.
Phillips received major backlash from conservatives and other prominent figures for targeting the young boy.
Twitter’s Community Notes flagged Phillips’ post for being out-of-context, citing images that showed both sides of Armenta’s face.
“This Deadspin’s author failed to provide full context of the photo presented in the article, which is a boy wearing face paint of which the two colors (black and red) represent the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team,” Community Notes added below Phillips’ tweet.
Phillips got so much backlash that he later deleted his tweet claiming that the red and black paint might be “even worse” than full blackface. The now-deleted tweet read, “For the idiots in my mentions who are treating this as some harmless act because the other side of his face was painted red, I could make the argument it makes it even worse.”
Twitter CEO Elon Musk called Phillips “an unapologetic racist and a deceiver,” while Twitter personality Harrison Krank denounced him as the “most despicable and bigoted man in media.”
During a Wednesday morning interview with “Fox & Friends,” Outkick founder Clay Travis called on Armenta’s parents to sue Deadspin.
“I think this kids and his parents should sue Deadspin’s website for defamation. The writer, as well,” Travis said. “It’s clear they ran with something that wasn’t remotely true.”
Amid the widespread backlash, reports revealed Wednesday morning that Armenta is Native American. His grandfather, Raul Armenta, is a business committee member at the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. The elder Armenta visited his grandparents and other relatives who lived on the Native American reservation throughout his childhood, according to a short bio.
A 2012 obituary of Holden’s great-grandfather, Manuel Armenta, identified him as “an elder of the Santa Ynez Band of the Chumash Indians.”
The boy’s mother, Shannon Armenta, angrily responded to Deadspin’s article and CBS News for airing the misleading photograph published by the sports blog. She posted several photos of her Chiefs super-fan son appearing to have a fun time at the game, and shared a video of him doing the iconic tomahawk chop and receiving a positive response from black Chiefs players.
“This has nothing to do with the NFL. Also, CBS showed him multiple times and this is the photo people chose to blast to create division. He is Native American – just stop already,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Deadspin has yet to issue any correction to the article or respond to the backlash as of Wednesday morning. Both Phillips and the outlet’s editor-in-chief, Jim Rich, refused to respond to the Daily Caller’s Tuesday inquiries about whether they would include the full photo showing both sides of Armenta’s face.
^^THIS!!!!^^
When duly revealed for purposes of lusty public mockery, they tend to double down in a bid to survive politically and maintain (in the eyes of at least a few) the moral high ground. Cornered animals behave similarly.
This juvenile hate filled racebaiter, picking on a 5 year old child, desperately needs to get a life. Does his black privilege give him the right to define what natives, who do not share his culture, should be outraged about, particularly when it is a native child he is mocking?
that He does...that He does...
Rumor is Chiefs fans will wear the face paint the next home game which is on the 14th against the Bills. I hope the stadium is filled with red and black faces.
What backlash? The author still has his job, the editor that approved it still has a job and deadspin isn’t...well, dead.
A defamation lawsuit is in his & their future, I predict............
LOL! I was thinking the same thing.
Intentionally showing just the Black face isn't going to help them. It points to malice.
I’m guessing this creep never complained about Lez Warren lying about being an Indian to get into college and Congress.
He looks like a real whiner to me. He needs to go do Oreo commercials or one about taking a pill that makes you “undetectable”.
I’m at the point where blackface should just become commonplace and the white Leftists and their black servants in the Outrage Industry can finally just glitch out and snap their brains.
They think we’re all racists regardless no matter how much soft white people cower. May as well have fun with it.
He needs a raceawrectumy and get rid of that crap. At least that which isn’t already inside his skull feeling lonesome.
It’s not soon enough. There has to be more accountability than a civil trial that will take years to happen.
Things are getting VERY hot in d'Ottawa for Crime Minister Castreau. Perhaps he needed to get away, to waste more Canadian taxpayers dollars, this time in Vegas. Unfortunately, old habits, like wearing blackface, die hard!
Just another hate filled Carron trying to stir up hatred
Hey, there’s not enough overt racism out there for me to report on, so I’ll make up some stuff. The low IQ readers will eat it up.
J.C. on a motorcycle! Will these idiots EVER get a life?
The Chiefs don’t have an impressive record of helping much. Remember when the coach’s drunkass kid wrecked the little girl after practice. remember how much they helped? sure you do?
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