9-year-old NFL fan’s defamation lawsuit against Deadspin to proceed after writer accused him of wearing blackface to game: judge

Holden Armenta, a young native American boy, attended the game with his family, sporting a Native American headdress and painting his face red and black to support his favorite team, the Kansas City Chiefs. He was featured in a television broadcast of the game and was photographed by various news outlets in his attire.

The next day, Deadspin writer Carron Phillips published an article that accused the 9-year-old child of being racist. Phillips had taken a screenshot of Holden that showed only the black side of his red and black face paint and accused the child of wearing blackface. After immense backlash in support of Holden, Deadspin updated the article without issuing a retraction or a formal apology, the lawsuit states.

Superior County Judge Sean Lugg denied Deadspin's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, rejecting allegations that the article's defamation liability was shielded by its status as an opinion piece.

"Deadspin published an image of a child displaying his passionate fandom as a backdrop for its critique of the NFL's diversity efforts and, in its description of the child, crossed the fine line protecting its speech from defamation claims," the judge wrote. "Having reviewed the complaint, the court concludes that Deadspin's statements accusing H.A. of wearing black face and Native headdress 'to hate black people and the Native American at the same time,' and that he was taught this hatred by his parents, are provable false assertions of fact and are therefore actionable."

The Armentas, who are of Chumash-Indian heritage, began receiving death threats and hateful messages following the publication of the article. According to the lawsuit, one individual threatened to kill Holden "with a wood chipper." The Armentas assert that they have made numerous requests for Deadspin to retract the article and issue an apology, but Deadspin only edited the article, removing Holden's picture but retaining the accusations of racism.

The publication later changed the headline from "The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in black face," which included a photograph of Holden, to read "The NFL must ban native headdress and culturally insensitive face paint in the stands."

"We regret any suggestion that we are attacking the fan or his family," the updated article read. The Armentas were not satisfied and sued for defamation.

Phillips wrote in his article that the 9-year-old boy "found a way to hate black people and the Native American at the same time," suggesting that Holden was taught "hatred" by his parents. After generating backlash on social media, Phillips doubled down on his piece.

"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 that it makes it even worse," Phillips wrote on X at the time. "Y'all are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear sombreros on Cinco." The Armentas described the writer in the complaint as "someone who makes his livelihood through vicious race-baiting."

Elizabeth Locke, an attorney for the Armentas, told the NYP in an email: "Deadspin and Carron Phillips have never shown a morsel of remorse for using a 9-year-old boy as their political football. The Armenta family is looking forward to taking depositions and presenting this case to a jury at trial."