The family of a 9-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan whom 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 editor and reporter.
Holden Armenta’s parents, Shannon and Raul, have hired Clare Locke LLP to demand that sports news site and senior writer Carron Phillips retract their story titled “NFL needs to speak out against Kansas City Chiefs fan with black, native face”. touched.”
They also threatened further legal action against the reporter, Deadspin, publisher G/O Media and Great Hill Partners in a letter obtained by NewsNation.
“These articles, posts about X and photographs about Holden and his parents must be retracted immediately,” the letter said.
“It is not enough to quietly delete a tweet from X or deactivate the article from the Deadspin website. “You must publish your retractions and apologize to my clients with the same prominence and fanfare with which you defamed 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 outfit at a recent Kansas City Chiefs game. AP
The sports news site has been criticized for Phillips’ article, which featured a photo of Holden standing sideways, suggesting he was wearing blackface without mentioning the red side.
Phillips, a former New York Daily News reporter, also criticized Holden’s Native American headdress and his “Tomahawk Chop” gesture, stating that 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 tagged with a community note about X calling it “purposefully misleading.”
Phillips published a story titled “NFL needs to speak out against Kansas City Chiefs fan in blackface and native headdress,” which showed a photo of Holden standing sideways, suggesting he was wearing blackface. Deadline screenshot
“This is what happens when you ban books, oppose critical race theory, and try to erase centuries of hate,” he wrote. “You give future generations the ammunition they need to evolve and recreate racism better than before.”
The boy’s outraged mother, Shannon Armenta, shared numerous images of her son receiving a warm reception at the game, while suggesting that Deadspin focused on a photo that obscured 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 in the game. Shannon Armenta/Facebook
“He’s Native American, enough is enough,” she wrote of her son.
In fact, Holden’s grandfather, Raul Armenta, sits on the board of directors of the Chumash tribe in Santa Ynez, California, according to the Post Millennial.
But Phillips reportedly doubled down on his claim in a since-deleted X post.
“For the idiots in my mentions treating this as a harmless act because the other side of their face was painted red, you could argue that it makes it even worse,” he wrote in the post, according to the Post Millennial. .
“You are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear hats on Cinco [de Mayo].”
Holden, here with his father, previously said it’s “a little scary” to have been falsely labeled a racist. Fox News
Speaking to Fox News’ Jesse Watters, Holden said it’s “a little scary” that he was labeled a racist for his outfit at the Chiefs game.
His father added: “It has been a lot. It’s been a pretty crazy couple of days. She was angry, upset for him. It makes me angry that he’s upset.
“He is quite devastated. I mean, he has seen the videos and everything published,” Raúl said.
“His dream was to get on the Jumbotron. And I’ve had family and friends call me and [say]”Oh, we saw you Sunday night at football.” So, he’s excited. But then everything else came up,” the father added.
When Watters asked if he wanted an apology from Phillips, Raul said, “It’s too late for that.”
“The damage has already been done. It is, you know, global. Now there are comments everywhere, there is, you know, disrespect towards Native Americans and towards my family. We have never, in any way, intended to disrespect respect for Native Americans or any tribe,” he said.
“He is a 9-year-old boy supporting his team,” Raúl added.
The Post has reached out to Deadspin and G/O Media for comment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn