The family of a 9-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan who Deadspin accused of being racist for wearing a Native American headdress and painting his face half black and half red is threatening to sue the publisher and reporter.
Holden Armenta’s parents, Shannon and Raul, have hired Clare Locke LLP to demand that the sports news site and senior writer Carron Phillips issue a retraction for its story titled “NFL needs to speak out against Kansas City Chiefs fans in Black face, Native hoods.”
They also threatened further legal action against the reporter, Deadspin, publisher G/O Media and Great Hill Partners in a letter obtained by NewsNation.
“Articles, posts on X and photos about Holden and his parents must be retracted immediately,” the letter read.
“It’s not enough to quietly remove tweets from X or disable articles from Deadspin’s website. You must publish your retraction and issue an apology to my clients with the same attitude and passion with which you slandered them.”
The family of 9-year-old Holden Armenta is threatening to sue Deadspin and reporter Carron J. Phillips for calling him “racist” for his ensemble at a recent Kansas City Chiefs game. AP
The sports news site came under fire for Phillips’ article, which featured a photo of Holden standing sideways — suggesting he was wearing blackface without mentioning the red part.
Phillips, a former New York Daily News reporter, also slammed Holden’s headdress and “Tomahawk Chop” gesture, claiming the boy “found a way to hate black people and Native Americans at the same time.”
“It takes a lot to disrespect two groups of people at once,” Phillips wrote in the article, which has since been punctuated by a community note on X branding it “deliberately deceptive.”
Phillips published a story titled “NFL needs to speak out against Kansas City Chiefs fans with Blackface, Native headdresses,” which featured a photo of Holden standing on the sidelines — showing him wearing blackface. Screenshot of the deadline
“This is what happens when you ban books, oppose Critical Race Theory, and try to erase centuries of hatred,” he wrote. “You’re giving the next generation the ammunition they need to grow and reinvent racism better than ever.”
The boy’s outraged mother, Shannon Armenta, shared multiple images of her son getting fired up at the game — while suggesting Deadspin focus on photos that hide the fact that half of her son’s face was painted red.
“This has nothing to do with the NFL,” he wrote, suggesting the photo was chosen solely “to create division.”
Phillips also criticized Holden for doing the “Tomahawk Chop” gesture at the game. Shannon Armenta / Facebook
“He’s Native American – just stop,” she wrote of her son.
In fact, Holden’s grandfather, Raul Armenta, sits on the board of the Chumash Tribe in Santa Ynez, California, according to the Millennial Post.
But Phillips reportedly doubled down on his claim in a since-deleted X post.
“For the idiot in my name who thinks this is a harmless act because one side of his face is painted red, I can make an argument that it makes it worse,” he wrote in the post, according to Post Millennial .
“You guys are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear sombreros on Cinco [de Mayo].”
Holden, here with his dad, earlier said it was “a little scary” that he had been falsely labeled a racist. FOX News
Speaking to Fox News’ Jesse Watters, Holden said it was “a little scary” that he was labeled a racist for his ensemble at the Chiefs game.
His father added: “It’s been a lot. It’s been a pretty crazy few days. I was angry, upset with him. I was angry that he was upset.
“He was pretty devastated. I mean, he’s seen the video and everything that’s been posted,” Raul said.
“It was his dream to get on the Jumbotron. And I have family and friends calling and [say], ‘Oh, we’ll see you at Sunday night football.’ So, he was excited. But then everything came up,” added his father.
When asked by Watters if he wanted an apology from Phillips, Raul said, “It’s a little late for that.”
“The damage is done. It’s, you know, worldwide. Now there’s comments everywhere, there’s, you know, disrespect towards Native Americans and towards my family. We never in any way, shape or form meant to disrespect any Native American or any tribe,” he said.
“It’s a 9-year-old boy supporting his team,” added Raul.
The Post has reached out to Deadspin and G/O Media for comment.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
