In a ruling earlier this week, a Delaware judge rejected the motion of the news organization Deadspin to dismiss the lawsuit by 9-year-old Holden Armenta that accuses the news organization of falsely slandering the boy as a racist and bigot.

This story is just another example of the legacy of hate that came out of the Obama era, whereby leftists decided they had the right to slander and defame anyone they wanted, simply for political gain. In this case Deadspin writer Carron Phillips had in an article unjustly accused this child of being a racist because he attended a game wearing facepaint.

Phillips wrote the child was wearing blackface, and Deadspin helped Phillips push this lie by printing a picture that only showed the black side of Armenta’s face. A head-on shot showed his facepaint had nothing to do with blackface, but was a typical example of what many football fans do, paint their faces with the colors of their team. The right side of the boy’s face was painted black, the left side red.

What made the slander even more egregious is that Holden is an American Indian, with his grandfather, Raul Armenta, on the board of the Chumash Tribe in Santa Ynez, California. Deadspin and Phillips further worsened the situation by refusing to take down the story. Phillips even went so far as to further accuse the boy of bigotry against American Indians by the use of the red face paint!

Deadspin, which shortly after its slanderous behavior was sold to a foreign company which then fired its entire staff, had attempted to get the Armenta lawsuit dismissed, claiming that Phillips’ article was simply an “opinion,” not a statement of a false fact that was libelous. Superior Court Judge Sean Lugg bluntly rejected that argument, allowing the lawsuit to now go forward.

“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. [Holden Armenta] 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,” Lugg added.

It remains unclear if the Armentas can win very much by the suit. As I noted, the company has been sold, and the assets of the new owners are unknown. Moreover, for some reason the lawsuit did not name any individuals, so Carron Phillips and the now fired Deadspin editors who tried to justify his defamation are facing no personal liability.

There has been some victory however, as noted almost as an aside in the linked article above:

Phillips, accurately described in the Armentas’ lawsuit as “someone who makes his livelihood through vicious race-baiting,” remains unemployed. [emphasis mine]

As I wrote in March in reporting the sale of Deadspin, “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.”

It appears that the news business so far wants nothing to do with Phillips. May it remain so.

We can also hope that this lawsuit — as well as the numerous other recent legal victories by defamed individuals — might finally force the people on the left to exercise some caution before accusing others of bigotry and racism.

It isn’t likely, at least in the short run. In the long run however the present trends are definitely hopeful.

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.

Bring a gun to a knife fight: Though this will the third time in less than a week I have devoted my column to this story, this update today is absolutely essential, because it might be the happiest and most hopeful story I have reported in years.

The screen capture to the right was taken from a short X video posted by one of the two podcasters who had started a GiveSendGo campaign to send Holden Armenta to the Super Bowl. Armenta had been slandered falsely by Deadspin senior writer Carron Phillips, who claimed the boy was a racist because he attended a Kansas City Chiefs game in blackface, when all the boy did was put on facepaint of the team’s colors to cheer them on, like any ordinary 9-year-old boy. Worse, both that news outlet and Phillips compounded the false slander by refusing to correct their error when it was clearly documented it was false. That defiance was made even more disgusting when it was revealed that Armenta and his family are actually American Indians themselves.

Even though the fund-raising campaign fell short of its $22,000 goal, raising about half that, it appears that the podcasters decided to take Holden and his family to the game anyway. Kudos to them!

The video of Holden is joyous in numerous ways. First, you can see that the harm the slanderous story caused him — as outlined in horrific detail in his parents’ lawsuit [pdf] against Deadspin — has apparently mostly subsided. The boy is clearly excited about going to the game, and shows no fear of further media attacks for doing so.

Second, he is once again in facepaint and wearing the Indian headress he wore previously! According to his family, he had attended that earlier Kansas City Chiefs game in facepaint wearing the headress not only because he wanted to cheer his team, he also very much wanted to get on television. In this he succeeded, to his joy, only to have that joy shattered viciously by that despicable leftist reporter. That he is once again in costume for the Super Bowl means his parents have helped him overcome any fear he might have had, and he is once again an ordinary little boy, cheering on his favorite team with that added spark of originality.

Third, we must underline the fact that Holden knows the game of football. In the clip he predicts that his Kansas City Chiefs would win the Super Bowl 31 to 28. The Chiefs not only won as Holden predicted, the final score, 25 to 22 makes his prediction better than some of the most respected sports prognosticators in the world. Go Holden!

Fourth, Holden is not the only one in this group in facepaint and an Indian headdress. Not only have these kind people done everything they can for the boy, they are also making a statement to the bigots and slanderers and blacklisters on the left: We will not submit. We will not bow. We will be free and do what we wish, ignoring your slanderous lies against us. And to prove it, they came to the Super Bowl in costume, and are proudly broadcasting that fact to the world.

Finally, and maybe the most important, we must express deep respect and congratulations to Holden’s parents. They have not let this disgusting incident fester in their son, but instead have addressed the issue boldly. Instead of wilting in fear against a modern media two-minute hate against themselves and their child, they have instead reacted fearlessly and defiantly, while gently and carefully teaching this young boy how to face his fears and hurts and overcome them.

This is what parents must always do, especially in this time of blacklisting and hate.

This moral victory for Holden Armenta at the Super Bowl however is not the end of this story. The lawsuit continues, and it is essential the Armenta family win, and win big. For too long the leftist media and its shallow-minded and hate-filled journalists have found they could publish any lies and any slanders they wanted, for political reasons, and get away with it. Because of this lack of consequences they now lie and slander routinely about almost all major political news stories, defaming Republican politicans and ordinary conservatives everywhere with falsehoods. They have become worst than Nazi or Soviet propagandists, because unlike the journalists in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, these American journalists do not live in a dictatorship where defiance leads to imprisonment. Instead, they have become Democratic Party and leftist propagandists voluntarily, in a most shameful manner.

Deadspin and its reporter Carron Phillips are poster childs for this bankrupt press. Both must suffer for their reprehensible lies. The outlet should go bankrupt, and Phillips should find more appropriate work, such as working at the cash register in a convenience store. And the sooner the better.

May this lawsuit succeed in making this happen, to the financial and emotional benefit of Holden Armenta and his family, and for the moral and social benefit of all America.

Bring a gun to a knife fight: This is follow-up to my story only two days ago about the defamation and slander of 9-year-old Holden Armenta by Deadspin Senior Writer Carron Phillips. Both had falsely accused this innocent child of racism because he attended a game wearing facepaint with the red and black colors of the Kansas City Chiefs, like numerous fans have done for decades. My story was about a GiveSendGo fund-raising campaign still on-going to send Holden to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas this coming weekend to see his team play, in person.

On that same day the boy’s parents filed a lawsuit against Deadspin and its parent company, G/O Media, accusing both of defaming both Holden and themselves, and demanding actual and punitive damages.

You can read the complaint here [pdf]. It is a heart-breaking document to read, especially when it describes the painful consequences to Holden because of Phillips’ vicious and false attack.

Shannon has had to devote significant time to H.A.’s [Holden] emotional and social well-being after the attacks from the Article and had to confront troubling incidents at H.A.’s school because of it. As only one example, Shannon and Raul have signed H.A. up for sports activities far away from his community because the Article poisoned H.A.’s relationships (and their relationships with the parents of H.A.’s former friends). Shannon drives more than 80 miles round trip twice a week to take H.A. to these distant activities.

…H.A., meanwhile, has greatly struggled in school due to the unwanted and unwarranted attention from the Article. Last year, when he began third grade, he scored “at/above benchmark” on a standardized reading test. This year, after Deadspin’s defamatory attack, he scored so low that the testing company recommended an “intervention.” His classmates bully him, and some question his Native American heritage. He has lost many friendships. He has begun seeing a therapist. He and his parents have had to spent considerable time and suffered considerable heartache trying to find new friends that are not infected with the controversy created by the Article.

Most gravely, H.A. has suffered a devastating loss for a nine-year old boy—the innocence of youth, and the deep, unencumbered love for his favorite football team and its players.

Prior to this evil attack the boy had been a wide receiver and safety in a local kids football league, and apparently even played in its All-Star game. All of that is now apparently destroyed. The level of pain and hurt this must have caused the boy is unimaginable.

The lawsuit makes it very clear what it thinks of the actions of Deadspin and Carron Phillips.

Defendant published its defamatory statements with negligence and/or actual malice. H.A. is not a public figure—he is a nine-year-old boy—and therefore only needs to prove negligence to recover. Nor are his parents public figures. In this instance, however, Defendant knew its statements were false, or recklessly disregarded the truth or falsity of its statements when it republished them in full on November 30.

It describes at great length the malice exhibited by Deadspin and Phillips, first in doubling down on the false slanders, then attempting to make believe they didn’t do anything wrong, even as both continued to publish the article with only minor changes. Even when Deadspin finally re-edited the article to remove references to Holden specifically it still maintained it had done nothing wrong, and that the implications of bigotry against this little boy in its original report was simply “unfortunate.”

I think every decent American should be rooting for a very big win in this lawsuit by the Armentas. When it is finished not only should Holden Armenta own Deadspin, lock, stock, and barrel, he and his parents should win enough money to pay his way through college and beyond. Such a victory cannot bring this boy’s innocence back, but it can go a long way to healing the wounds that Deadspin and Carron Phillips so maliciously inflicted.

Meanwhile, I urge my readers to go to the GiveSendGo site and donate to the campaign. It would be wonderful if Holden Armenta could see the Superbowl this weekend, in person.

Bring a gun to a knife fight: A fundraiser has been started to send 9-year-old KC Chiefs fan, Holden Armenta, to the Super Bowl, in defiant response to the ugly effort by one racist reporter, Carron Phillips, and his media outlet, Deadspin, to slander the boy as a bigot because he attended a game wearing facepaint with the red and black colors of the Chiefs.

Phillips had unjustly accused the child of wearing blackface, and Deadspin helped Phillips push this lie by printing a picture that only showed the black side of Armenta’s face. A head-on shot showed his facepaint had nothing to do with blackface, but was a typical example of what many football fans do, paint their faces with the colors of their team. The right side of the boy’s face was painted black, the left side red.

What made the slander even more egregious is that Holden is an American Indian, with his grandfather, Raul Armenta, on the board of the Chumash Tribe in Santa Ynez, California.

The backlash, including a threat by the parents to sue, was so harsh that Deadspin quickly edited Phillips’ story, removing the picture of the boy, revising the headline, and adding an editor’s note that claimed it never intended to slander him. No one believes that last claim, but the changes eliminated the printed slander against Armenta, which was likely the goal of the parents’ legal threat. As noted by Holden’s father Bubba during a television interview,

“He’s pretty devastated. I mean, he’s seen the videos and everything posted,” Raul said. “It was his dream to get on the Jumbotron. And I’ve had family and friends call and [say], ‘Oh, we saw you on Sunday night football.’ So, he’s excited. But then everything else came up,” the father added.

When asked by Watters if he wants an apology from Phillips, Raul said, “It’s a little too late for that. … The damage is already done. It’s, you know, worldwide. Now there’s comments all over, there’s, you know, disrespect towards Native Americans and towards my family. We never in any way, shape or form meant to disrespect any Native Americans or any tribes,” he said.

“It’s a 9-year-old boy supporting his team,” Raul added. [emphasis mine]

For this reporter to be so focused on race that he felt it was okay to slander a little boy for cheering enthusiastically for his team tells us how low these race hustlers are.

Now two podcasters have set up a fundraiser to send Holden to the Super Bowl next week to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024.

The financial goal of this fundraiser, launched on GiveSendGo, is set at $22,000. As of Monday afternoon, the fundraiser has raised almost $6,700.

In the chance this fundraiser does not meet its financial goal, the two hosts told the Washington Examiner that they plan to use the money to buy Armenta signed sports jerseys of Kansas City Chiefs icons Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, which will be presented to Armenta at a Super Bowl watch party held close to the big game. Smith and Maurice said they are “very Christian” and want to make sure they are “good stewards” of the money given to this fundraiser.

The GiveSendGo fundraiser can be found here.