Family of Young Chiefs Fan Threatens to Make Media Outlet Pay for Racism Smear: Report
In the early makings of a situation eerily similar to the one that took down its former parent company, leftist sports site Deadspin is staring down quite a litigious future.
Deadspin found itself at the center of a raging controversy when it became the leading voice in a bizarre crusade against a young Kansas City Chiefs fan.
The young boy, eventually revealed to be Holden Armenta, was labeled and blasted as some sort of horrific racist when this image began going viral:
this chiefs fan is totally having a normal one pic.twitter.com/cYEkIkAtPa
— charles (“you look good” – andy reid) mcdonald (@FourVerts) November 26, 2023
Deadspin, which often likes to howl about intersectionality in sports, lunged at the chance to throw the young Armenta under the proverbial bus, publishing a scathing article titled, “The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress (UPDATE).”
(And oh, what a petty update it is, but more on that shortly.)
The issue arose, however, when it was revealed that all of these cries about “blackface” and racism were much ado about nothing because the young Armenta was simply donning classic football “warpaint” in the colors of the Chiefs.
@Outkick pic.twitter.com/vBBlatB95a
— Bobby Burack (@burackbobby_) November 27, 2023
In other words, if Armenta is racist, so too is pretty much any Pittsburgh Steelers or Las Vegas Raiders (two teams that prominently feature black as part of their respective color schemes) fan who has ever worn “warpaint.”
Shannon Armenta, mother of the young Chiefs fan, further piled on Deadspin when she revealed that her son was actually part Native American.
Some reporters, who actually had shame, apologized for the overly-emotional response.
Deadspin? Oh no, those buffoons had doubled down on their stance with that inane aforementioned “Update,” which only sought to point out how the tribe who Armenta can trace some lineage to denounced the use of traditional garments for celebration.
And that petty response seems to have paved the way for Shannon Armenta to sue Deadspin, according to legal documents obtained by NewsNation.
That outlet is reporting that Armenta’s parents, Shannon and Raul “Bubba” Armenta, have hired legal representation to demand that Deadspin retract the article — and have threatened further legal action in the event that the outlet refuses.
“These Articles, posts on X, and photos about Holden and his parents must be retracted immediately,” the letter said. “It is not enough to quietly remove a tweet from X or disable the article from Deadspin’s website.
“You must publish your retractions and issue an apology to my clients with the same prominence and fanfare with which you defamed them.”
So this leftist website, that resembles a gossip rag more than an actual outlet, jumped all over a cultural flashpoint to drive clicks and virality, and are now staring down the barrel of a potential lawsuit.
If you’re at all familiar with how Deadspin’s former parent company Gawker went down, that should sound eerily familiar.
Gawker got into a world of trouble when it’s self-named site published a sex tape of professional wrestling legend Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea.
That publication led to Bollea suing the site and several key employees effectively into oblivion.
Gawker went bankrupt after a 2016 verdict that found the site and employees liable for damages. That verdict literally bankrupted the company, forcing it to sell off a number of its sites, including Deadspin.
There’s a reason that “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” is a phrase that has endured.
And it’s also a phrase that Deadspin may become intimately familiar with, if they don’t retract that article.
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