Deadspin loses bid to toss defamation suit over article accusing young Chiefs fan of racism
DOVER, Del. — A Delaware judge has declined to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against sports website Deadspin over an article accusing a 9-year-old NFL fan and his family of racism over his sportswear.
The lawsuit was filed by California resident Raul Armenta Jr. and his wife Shannon, on behalf of themselves and their son Holden, who attended a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders last November.
According to the lawsuit, Holden, referred to in the lawsuit as “HA,” is a Chiefs fan who also loves his family’s Chumash Indian heritage. He wore a Chiefs jersey to the game, with his face painted half red and half black, and a Native American headdress. Holden got the chance to pose with the Raiders cheerleaders and was also briefly seen during the television broadcast of the game, with his red and black face paint visible. An Associated Press photographer also took a photo of Holden that shows both sides of the boy’s painted face.
Using a screenshot in which only the side of Holden’s face was painted black, Deadspin writer Carron Phillips published an article the next day accusing the boy of being racist.
“The NFL must speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan wearing blackface and Indigenous headdress,” the article’s headline reads. “They are doubling down on racism,” reads a subtitle. “Are you going to say anything, Roger Goodell?” – a reference to the NFL commissioner.
In the article, Phillips wrote that the boy had “found a way to hate black people and Native Americans at the same time.” He suggested that the boy had learned ‘hate’ from his parents.
Deadspin posted the article to Phillips, described in the Armentas lawsuit as “someone who makes his living through brutal racial fighting,” nevertheless doubled his profits.
“For the idiots in my mentions who are treating this as an innocent act because the other side of his face was painted red, I could make the argument that it makes it worse,” Phillips wrote on X. “Y’all are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear sombreros on Cinco.
The Armentas began receiving hateful messages and death threats, with one person threatening to kill Holden “with a wood chipper,” according to the lawsuit. The Armentas say they repeatedly demand that Deadspin retract the article and apologize. In response, Deadspin instead republished an edited version that retained the accusations of racism and continued to display Holden’s photo. Deadspin later updated the article again, removing Holden’s photo and changing the headline to read: “The NFL should ban native headdress and culturally insensitive face paint in the stands.” ”
“We regret any suggestion that we attacked the fan or his family,” the article reads.
Dissatisfied with Deadspin’s updates in lieu of a formal apology and retraction, the Armentas sued for defamation.
On Monday, Supreme Court Justice Sean Lugg denied Deadspin’s request to dismiss Armentas’ lawsuit, rejecting arguments that the article was opinion and thus shielded from defamation liability.
“Deadspin published an image of a child displaying his passionate fandom as a backdrop to his criticism of the NFL’s diversity efforts and crossed a fine line in his description of the child to protect his speech from defamation claims,” the judge wrote.
“After reviewing the complaint, the court concludes that Deadspin’s statements accusing HA of wearing blackface and a native headdress ‘to simultaneously hate black people and the Native American population’ and that his parents was taught, are demonstrably false assertions of fact and are therefore actionable,” Lugg added.
Lugg also declined to dismiss the lawsuit based on Deadspin’s argument that it should have been filed in California, where the Armentas live, rather than in Delaware, where Deadspin’s former parent company, G/O Media, was incorporated. A month after the Armenta’s filed their lawsuit, G/O Media sold the Deadspin website to Lineup Publishing and the entire staff was fired.
“Deadspin and Carron Phillips have never shown an ounce of remorse for using a nine-year-old boy as their political football,” Elizabeth Locke, an attorney for the Armentas, said in an email. “The Armenta family looks forward to making statements and presenting this case to a jury at trial.”
A spokesperson for G/O Media said in an email that the company had no comment.