Family Of Kid Accused Of Blackface Sues Deadspin
Last November, Deadspin posted an article falsely framing a nine-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan for wearing blackface during an NFL game.
The author, Carron J. Phillips, showed only the side of the kid's face painted black; not the full image showing he was wearing black and red face paint in support of the Chiefs.
Here's the photo Deadspin posted:
Here's the actual photo:
Secondly, the piece claimed the fan "hate[s] Black people and the Native Americans at the same time."
On Monday, the parents of the child, Raul and Shannon Armenta, filed a lawsuit against Deadspin and parent company G/O Media for "maliciously and wantonly" attacking their son. The family confirmed their legal action to OutKick.
The complaint reads as follows:
"By selectively capturing from the CBS broadcast an image of H.A. showing only the one side of his face with black paint on it — an effort that took laser-focused precision to accomplish given how quickly the boy appeared on screen: Phillips and Deadspin deliberately omitted the half of H.A.’s face with red paint on it.
"H.A. did not wear a costume headdress because he was ‘taught hate at home’—he wore it because he loves the Kansas City Chiefs’ football team and because he loves his Native American heritage."
The lawsuit states the accusations caused "enormous damage" to the Armenta family, as detailed below:
"Death threats ("I’m going to kill [H.A.] with a wood chipper") and insults (calling H.A. a "p-ssy," a "mother f-cker," and a "n-gg-r"). They have made Raul a pariah at work, forcing the family to consider moving out of state. And they have branded a nine-year-old child with false allegations that will live forever online. H.A. has already suffered significantly—his test scores and grades have dropped in school, and he has shown emotional damage from the onslaught of negative attention."
The family blames a "race-drenched political agenda" for the article's publication, adding that Deadspin and Phillips knew the boy did not wear blackface, but decided to write an article "viciously race-baiting" their son to "generate clicks."
The evidence that Phillips and Deadspin lied willfully is strong.
Let's recap:
Deadspin posted the article on Nov. 27, 2023. The outlet did not update the article and remove the deceptively edited photo until Dec. 7. That's 11 days in which an article smearing a minor with falsehoods remained on the internet.
Deadspin did not take down the photo and add an editor's note until the family threatened legal action. The note claimed the outlet was unaware of the full photo – that proves the fan was not wearing blackface – until it received a legal threat.
That is not true.
OutKick sent Deadspin and Phillips the full photo of the boy's face three hours after it published the original article on Nov. 27. Phillips acknowledged our email that day with a now-deleted tweet saying that "Red and black face paint is just as offensive."
Yet the story remained as is, claiming the kid wore blackface to an NFL event.
The editor’s note also stated that the "intended focus [of the article] was on the NFL" and not the fan.
That is not true, either.
The first paragraph of the article claimed the kid "hated both black people and Native Americans." That accusation is, firmly, directed at the kid and not the NFL.
It’s also harmful.
The facts clearly show Deadspin posted an article with multiple falsehoods about a nine-year-old fan wearing blackface. The author called him a racist, disparaging his reputation. The author and outlet were quickly made aware of the slanderous inaccuracies of the article, but left it up anyway.
In the meantime, the lawsuit says Deadspin threatened to sue the Armenta family. Yes, you read that correctly.
"Deadspin’s lawyers threatened the Armenta family with counter-legal action should Raul and Shannon attempt to hold Phillips and Deadspin accountable for their false and defamatory Article."
The lawsuit continues, "Deadspin did not retract the Article, and it did not apologize."
"Rather, it published a series of further ‘updates’ that not only failed to correct the record, but instead established that Deadspin fully understood the Article’s highly damaging and defamatory nature—while maliciously refusing to back down."
OutKick reached out to Deadspin, G/O Media, and Carron J. Phillips for comment. None of the involved parties responded. We will update this article if they do.
You can read the full lawsuit here.