Parents Of Native American 'Blackface' Kid Hire Dominion Lawyers, Demand Deadspin, Journalist Retract Accusations
The parents of a 9-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan falsely accused of wearing blackface by a race-baiting Deadspin reporter have lawyered up and have threatened to sue the outlet, publishers G/O Media and Great Hill Partners, and the reporter, Carron Phillips - who wrote that the child, Holden Armenta, had "found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time."
Shannon and Raul Armenta have hired Clare Locke LLP to demand a retraction, and have threatened further legal action. The firm previously won a $787.5 million settlement against Fox News for Dominion Voting Systems (resulting in Tucker Carlson's ouster).
"These Articles, posts on X, and photos about Holden and his parents must be retracted immediately. 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," reads the letter, obtained by News Nation Now.
BREAKING: The parents of 9-year old Holden Armenta are threatening to sue Deadspin for slandering their son by saying he wore "Black face."
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 4, 2023
Do it! 🔥
Shannon and Raul Armenta have hired Clare Locke LLP, demanding that they issue a retraction of the viral story.
It gets better:… pic.twitter.com/gJShq1MFKW
Shannon Armenta had posted on Facebook that her son Holden is Native American himself, and that his grandfather serves on the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
"He is Native American — just stop already," she wrote.
As News Nation Now notes,
The picture of the boy was taken on Nov. 26 at the Chiefs-Raiders game in Las Vegas. Holden was shown on national TV and was also videoed doing the “tomahawk chop” along with tens of thousands of fans in attendance. Even some Chiefs players were doing the gesture on the field.
But after the image of the boy aired, Phillips, a senior writer with Deadspin, wrote the scathing article about the boy’s “racist” and “disrespectful” actions.
“It takes a lot to disrespect two groups of people at once. But on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, a Kansas City Chiefs fan found a way to hate black people and the native americans at the same time,” Phillips wrote in his story.
He continued, “Despite their age, who taught that person that what they were wearing was appropriate?”
Phillips also called out the NFL, calling on the league for “relentlessly participating in prejudice.”
Phillips has doubled down, meanwhile, updating his original article to include a statement from the Chumash Indians which "does not endorse wearing regalia as part of a costume or participating in any other type of cultural appropriation."
Holden's father told Fox News' Jesse Watters that it's been "a little scary," adding "It’s been a lot. It’s been a pretty crazy couple of days. I was mad, upset for him. I’m mad that he’s upset."
"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 added.
EXCLUSIVE: The 9-year-old Chiefs fan, who was falsely smeared as a racist for supporting his team, speaks out on Primetime.
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) November 30, 2023
Holden Armenta says this whole thing has been scary and overwhelming. His father, Bubba, says it's too late for an apology- the damage is already done. pic.twitter.com/8T4WsMsvm6
Let's see how this goes.