Finally! Deadspin ‘Corrects’ its Slam Against Little Football Fan
This article originally appeared on WND.com
Guest by post by Bob Unruh
Accused red-and-black-painted Chiefs fan of ‘blackface’
Deadspin, the publication that slammed a young Kansas City Chiefs fan as racist for wearing a headdress – he is Native American – and “blackface” – he had painted his face Chiefs colors of black and red – finally is getting around to a “correction.”
A report at Outkick explained, “Deadspin finally updated its story that originally falsely accused a young Chiefs fan of wearing blackface at an NFL event. Sometime Thursday, the outlet added an editor’s note to Carron J. Phillips’ hit piece.”
That note claimed Deadspin’s “opinion piece” was based “upon the available photo” showing “what appeared to be black face paint.”
“Unfortunately the article drew attention to the fan, though our intended focus was on the NFL and its checkered history on race, an issue which our writer has covered extensively for Deadspin,” it said.
“We regret any suggestion that we were attacking the fan. To that end, our story was updated on Dec. 7 to remove any photos, tweets, links, or otherwise identifying information about the fan. We have also revised the headline to better reflect the substance of the story.”
The Outkick report explained the article was changed several ways, including to remove “the opening line that said the fan ‘hated black people and Native Americans.’”
The action follows warnings from the fan’s parents, Shannon and Raul Armenta, that they could sue over the injury.
“This week, the family hired Clare Locke LLP to demand a retraction with the following letter,” the report said.
The report charged, “The lawsuit obviously frightened Deadspin and Phillips. They had several chances to correct the article before the family had to take legal action but didn’t.”
Earlier, Phillips had “doubled down on his accusation,” the report said. And it pointed out that the images “available” of the fan showed the black and red painting, so “the editor’s note that reads ‘based upon the available photo, what appeared to be black face paint’ is inaccurate.”
New photo of the person @Deadspin accused of being a vile racist who wore blackface at a football game.
(They tried to ruin this kid’s life)https://t.co/MEhDaQIIlS pic.twitter.com/5dvud08npf
— Bobby Burack (@burackbobby_) November 27, 2023
The Gateway Pundit had pointed out earlier that what was used in the original report was a “deceptive photo.”
Phillips had claimed, “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.”
That report confirmed, “It turns out Holden Armenta is Native American.”
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