The “news” outlet that slandered a 9-year-old football fan is no more
Holden Armenta in face-paint and headdress,
on his way to the Superbowl. Click for video.
Bring a gun to a knife fight: The “news” outlet Deadspin, that slandered a 9-year-old football fan for no reason other than outright hate of America, is no more, its owner G/O Media selling it to another company that immediately shut it down.
In the past few months the struggles of G/O have been well publicized, from their being forced to shutter (and later sell the rights to) Jezebel to facing down a lawsuit from the family of a Kansas City Chiefs fan who was smeared as ‘racist’ for wearing what they called ‘blackface’ to a game by Deadspin.
Well, apparently Deadspin has proved to be more trouble than it’s worth to the suits at G/O, because today it was announced that they’d sold the property to European firm ‘Lineup Publishing’… who have no interest in retaining any of the current Deadspin staff.
That 9-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan, Holden Armenta, came to a Chiefs game with his face painted with the team’s colors, black on one side and red on the other. Deadspin’s senior writer, Carron Phillips, immediately accused the boy falsely of being “racist” by wearing blackface, with the news outlet intentionally publishing a picture showing only the black side of his face. Both it and Phillips doubled down over the next few weeks, refusing to correct the story and apologize, even when it was clearly shown that the boy and his family were not only not engaged in any racist behavior, they are also American Indians. It didn’t matter to these swine that their actions were doing serious harm to a little boy, their cause was just, giving them the unfettered right to defame anyone they choose, all for the furtherance of “social justice” and diversity, equity, and inclusion!
Thus, the family’s lawsuit against G/O Media (which you can read here [pdf])
The sale and shutdown of Deadspin raises some interesting questions. It suggests that these actions are an attempt to forestall that lawsuit by shifting the assets elsewhere, out of reach of the Armenta family. I have no idea if this will work. The suit itself did not name Phillips specifically, only G/O Media. If G/O no longer exists or its assets are now down to almost nothing, it is hard to say how the suit can go on. It seems the family’s lawyers would have to issue an amended complaint, adding the new owners as well as Phillips. I am not sure if this can be done, however.
Regardless, the fast wipe-out of this evil “news” organization is good news. It indicates that the wanton slanders that leftist reporters routinely issue against anyone they deem the enemy are finally being challenged successfully. They are now warned: Call someone in print a “racist” without evidence and you might find yourself out of a job, and the company you work for destroyed.
Above all, it is very important that we all remember the name of Carron Phillips. If this man ever tries to return to journalism we must remember this incident, because it tells us how unreliable he is as a reporter and person. More important, any news organization that hires him now would immediately label itself suspect.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Holden Armenta in face-paint and headdress,
on his way to the Superbowl. Click for video.
Bring a gun to a knife fight: The “news” outlet Deadspin, that slandered a 9-year-old football fan for no reason other than outright hate of America, is no more, its owner G/O Media selling it to another company that immediately shut it down.
In the past few months the struggles of G/O have been well publicized, from their being forced to shutter (and later sell the rights to) Jezebel to facing down a lawsuit from the family of a Kansas City Chiefs fan who was smeared as ‘racist’ for wearing what they called ‘blackface’ to a game by Deadspin.
Well, apparently Deadspin has proved to be more trouble than it’s worth to the suits at G/O, because today it was announced that they’d sold the property to European firm ‘Lineup Publishing’… who have no interest in retaining any of the current Deadspin staff.
That 9-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan, Holden Armenta, came to a Chiefs game with his face painted with the team’s colors, black on one side and red on the other. Deadspin’s senior writer, Carron Phillips, immediately accused the boy falsely of being “racist” by wearing blackface, with the news outlet intentionally publishing a picture showing only the black side of his face. Both it and Phillips doubled down over the next few weeks, refusing to correct the story and apologize, even when it was clearly shown that the boy and his family were not only not engaged in any racist behavior, they are also American Indians. It didn’t matter to these swine that their actions were doing serious harm to a little boy, their cause was just, giving them the unfettered right to defame anyone they choose, all for the furtherance of “social justice” and diversity, equity, and inclusion!
Thus, the family’s lawsuit against G/O Media (which you can read here [pdf])
The sale and shutdown of Deadspin raises some interesting questions. It suggests that these actions are an attempt to forestall that lawsuit by shifting the assets elsewhere, out of reach of the Armenta family. I have no idea if this will work. The suit itself did not name Phillips specifically, only G/O Media. If G/O no longer exists or its assets are now down to almost nothing, it is hard to say how the suit can go on. It seems the family’s lawyers would have to issue an amended complaint, adding the new owners as well as Phillips. I am not sure if this can be done, however.
Regardless, the fast wipe-out of this evil “news” organization is good news. It indicates that the wanton slanders that leftist reporters routinely issue against anyone they deem the enemy are finally being challenged successfully. They are now warned: Call someone in print a “racist” without evidence and you might find yourself out of a job, and the company you work for destroyed.
Above all, it is very important that we all remember the name of Carron Phillips. If this man ever tries to return to journalism we must remember this incident, because it tells us how unreliable he is as a reporter and person. More important, any news organization that hires him now would immediately label itself suspect.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Good Riddance to Deadspin! Good Riddance to Carron Phillips!!
Generally speaking, you can’t escape liability by selling the company. As part of the sale, any pending or anticipated lawsuits would have to be declared, and the purchaser would be acknowledging that they are acquiring those liabilities along with any assets. If the sale is of the kind that requires approval from the FTC or such, then ongoing lawsuits are supposed to be considered as part of that approval and the judge would be expected to chime in if such a sale would be detrimental to the trial.
The devil is in the details, of course. I’m sure loopholes abound, and there is always the potential for “oops, Ok we shouldn’t have done that, but the money is out of your jurisdiction now, what are you going to do about it? Ask the Biden admin State Department to get involved? Ha! Ha!”
As I understand it G/O media still exists, it is just shutting down and selling off portions of the former Gawker media collective. Since the lawsuit is against the parent company it should be unaffected by the sale (though it does create some significant cash for a possible settlement). Deadspin the brand and IP was apparently worth significantly more than the product it was producing. Not sure why though. Could be as simple as Lineup Publishing (reported elsewhere as a media startup) buying up legacy IPs to quickly build a “brand”.
I would sincerely hope that the lawsuit personally names Phillips as a defendant. Phillips may have indemnification as an employee working with the course and scope of his employment for Deadspin, but we can hope that coverage counsel determines Phillips was acting outside of his job description when he defamed the boy before the whole world.
Dave: The present language of the lawsuit, which I link to in the article, does not name Phillips.
Another case of “woke” going broke.