9-Year-Old Chiefs Fan in 'Blackface' Defamation Suit Against Woke Sports Site Attended Super Bowl
The nine-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan who was smeared as a “racist” by the extremist, left-wing “sports” site Deadspin is having the last laugh. Not only is his family suing the website for its lies about him, but he also attended Super Bowl LVIII to see his Chiefs win the championship ring.
This is one brave family, for sure. After their reputation was smeared so badly by Deadspin and a myriad of other sports commentators and news outlets, to show up so publicly and in his Native American finery is amazing.
Holden Armenta and his parents were treated to a Super Bowl experience after supporters sponsored a fundraiser to send the boy to the big game.
We’ve officially hit $10,000 to get Holden to the Super Bowl!!
Thank you all so much.
A true grass roots campaign with an average donation of less than $40.
The GSG will close tomorrow, but THANK YOU!! pic.twitter.com/92amicNSRY
— 🪶Native Patriot 🇺🇸 (@LaNativePatriot) February 10, 2024
Holden Armenta to the Super Bowl! Thanks to all that made this happen! pic.twitter.com/6R6QR54vqr
— Native American Guardians Association (@GuardiansNative) February 11, 2024
You may recall the sordid tale of media bias and malfeasance when Deadspin writer Carron J. Phillips called the young fan’s face paint an example of a white person wearing “blackface” in a Nov. 27 article.
In his ill-informed screed, Phillips attacked the boy, his parents, the Chiefs, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the NFL for the “blackface” incident.
To buttress the accusation of blackface, Deadspin featured a photo of the boy in a profile view showing only the right side of his face.
“It takes a lot to disrespect two groups of people at once,” Phillips said, accusing the boy of making a racist statement about both blacks and Native Americans at the same time.
But, as it turned out, the child Phillips was attacking was not wearing blackface at all, but rather had black paint on the right side of his face and red paint on the left — the colors of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Why is @Deadspin @carronJphillips trying to ruin this little kid’s life? They’re accusing him of blackface but conveniently left out his full face which was painted for the game https://t.co/kFfgAL4aDH pic.twitter.com/750u5sfETE
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 28, 2023
Even worse than Deadspin’s obscene take on the boy’s fan getup was the site’s attack on the boy for appropriating Native American culture. But even that turned out to be nonsense because the boy and his family actually are Native Americans.
Young Holden and his father, Bubba Armenta, are members of California’s Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, according to the Washington Examiner. Not only that, but Holden’s grandfather, Raul Armenta, is a member of the tribe’s business committee and has more than two decades experience serving on its gaming commission.
🔸️This is the grandfather of the child who @carronJphillips & @Deadspin slandered & defamed after calling the boy a racist & claimed it was cultural appropriation to wear a Native American Headdress to a Kansas City Chiefs game.
🔸️It wasn’t bad enough to lie & say the kid… pic.twitter.com/NOmRlLGNOq— The Constitutional Conservative (@TheCCShowcast) November 29, 2023
Deadspin never retracted the story, though the site did add a few notes to the piece. Regardless, the site is standing by Phillips and his calumnies.
In the end, the “blackface” claim gave Deadspin a black eye. Oh, but it gets worse for the left-wing site, because Holden and his parents are suing Deadspin for defamation.
On Feb. 6, Deadspin’s parent company G/O Media Inc. was sued by the two parents who accused Deadspin of “viciously race-baiting” for no other reason than to “generate clicks.”
The family’s suit further claimed that Holden Armenta was the collateral damage from Deadspin’s hateful campaign, and he has suffered problems in school from all the negative attention in the biased media.
“Sadly,” the lawsuit contended, the boy “will never know a life in which his face and name are not inextricably linked to false accusations of racist conduct. When you Google H.A.’s name, the first result states that he has ‘been accused of racism by a reporter’ for Deadspin. The second alleges that the ‘article alleged that [the Armenta’s] son, [H.A.], exhibited racist behavior[.]’ The third describes what happened to H.A. as a ‘viral hit piece.'”
BREAKING: The parents of the defamed 9-year-old Chiefs fan are suing Deadspin.
Deadspin smeared Holden Armenta (9) and falsely accused him of blackface & racism, leaving out the half of his face painted red (Chiefs colors). His grandfather is a Native American tribesman.
The… pic.twitter.com/KZUcFoIJoF
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 7, 2024
What Deadspin did to Holden and his family was far from a mere typo. It was an outright calumny. And, sadly, it is the sort of unhinged, fact-free attack all too many media outlets continue to indulge.
Holden Armenta and his family should serve as a wonderful example to us all. Firstly, never apologize to the left. And secondly, stand up for yourself and for what you believe. And we have our fingers crossed that Holden will win his defamation lawsuit and bankrupt Deadspin.
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