Deadspin to Face Defamation Suit From Young Chiefs Fan

They thought they could get away with defaming a young Kansas City Chiefs fan. Aside from the PR disaster, they have a continuing legal disaster. Deadspin loses bid to toss defamation suit over article accusing young Chiefs fan of racism

Holden Armenta, was 9 years old when he attended a Kansas City Chief's game where he and his family were defamed. (That is my 1st amendment-protected opinion, anyway.) Deadspin, a sports website, in the person of writer Carron Phillips, thought it would be a good idea to publish a photo of the child, and accuse that 9-year-old and his family of racism. First they showed the side of his face which was painted black, but not the side painted red. (Red and black are the colors of the Kansas City Chiefs.) Not content with that, they went after the child for wearing a Native American headdress. Then they learned he was of Native American decent.

How do lawyers spell, "Oops?" I don't know, I'm not a lawyer, but I'm guessing it rhymes with "motion to dismiss."

So they got called out for hiding the red paint covering one side of Holden Armenta's face, and assuming that they knew his racial background by looking at a photo (does that make Carron Phillips and the rest of the Deadspin staff racist?) they were understandably upset when the family of the 9-year-old sued for defamation. Maybe dismayed is a better word than upset.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Sean Lugg denied Deadspin’s motion to dismiss the Armentas’ lawsuit, rejecting arguments that the article was opinion and thus protected from liability for defamation.

“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.

I hope that the Armentas get a boat load of cash, enough to pay for many trips to see the Kansas City Chiefs, to celebrate their Native American heritage, and a lot more. (In the past I would have said "the best college education," but really college is mostly worthless today unless you're studying something like engineering.)

And I hope that no one ever forgets the name of Carron Phillips for being an asshole to a 9-year-old child, and the name of Deadspin for being a horrible organization.

There has been justice, if only of the poetic kind, in the case, since one month after Deadspin published the article in question, G/O Media sold the website, and all of the staff, including Carron Phillips was, laid off.

Editor's note: I wanted to include a picture of the racist asshole, Carron Phillips, who started this whole thing, but he doesn't deserve the effort. The NY Post has a photo of him, if you're interested.