The parents of a 9-year-old boy on Tuesday sued the sports website Deadspin for defamation over its Nov. 23, 2023, article suggesting the boy “found a way to hate Black people and the Native American at the same time” by wearing a costume headdress and face paint in the spirit of a Kansas City Chiefs fan while attending a Chiefs game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Raul Armenta Jr. and Shannon Armenta say the article includes false and reputation-damaging statements about their son, H.A., who they claim “has greatly struggled in school due to the unwanted and unwarranted attention from the article” and has begun to see a therapist. The parents also contend H.A.’s “classmates bully him” and “he has lost many friendships,” and worry that when their son’s name is Googled the top results are about him being accused of racism.

The article, authored by Deadspin writer Carron Phillips, is titled “The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress.” At the top is a screenshot of a CBS game broadcast when the camera was momentarily on H.A. The photo shows only the right-side of his face, which was painted in black, and not the left-side, which was painted in red. The article questions whether H.A. is a “kid/teenager or a young adult” and asks, “despite their age, who taught that person that what they were wearing was appropriate?” 

The article also associates H.A.’s appearance with former Raiders coach Jon Gruden, whose lost his job after the New York Times and Wall Street Journal published emails containing racist, misogynistic and homophobic remarks. “It was as if Jon Gruden’s emails had come to life,” Phillips wrote.
The article goes on to criticize the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell for race issues, but the portions relevant to the lawsuit are those attributing viewpoints to H.A. and his education. 
The Armentas identify several ways they claim the article is defamatory:
·      H.A. did not wear blackface. His face was painted to show his fandom of the Chiefs and the team’s colors.
·      H.A. does not hate black people or Native Americans. In fact, H.A. is Native American, as his dad “is a member of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians, an indigenous people of California” and serves as project manager for the trip and is a member of tribe leadership committees. H.A.’s late grandfather was also a tribal elder.
·      Although they were not named in the article and although Phillips didn’t refer to parents, Raul and Shannon Armenta contend Phillips’ reference to “who taught” is “reasonably understood to be statements” about them. The couple say they have never taught hate or racism and are proud of their Native American heritage. 
The Armenta family also say they “repeatedly wrote to Deadspin” with demands the article be retracted and an apology issued but the publication refused. The article has since been updated to remove the photo, replacing it with one of Goodell. The article fell short of apologizing to H.A., though said the article “unfortunately … drew attention to the fan” when “our intended focus was on the NFL.”

The Armenta family seeks monetary damages, including punitive damages as a form of punishment. They also seek an injunction that would bar further republication of any image or defamatory statement.
Defamation cases are often difficult to win. The disputed statements must be assertions of fact, not opinion. Brett Favre lost his case against Shannon Sharpe, who said that Farve “stole money from people that really needed that money,” in part, a judge wrote, because those listening were likely to know Sharpe was engaged in rhetorical hyperbole and that his statements were not to be taken literally. 
Deadspin will likely claim that Phillips was editorializing and he could not have known whether the boy caught on camera hated black and Native American people. The publication, which could be accused of trying to inflame passions as part of its shtick, might also assert readers knew Phillips’ statement was not to be meant literally. 
Further, Deadspin might suggest Phillips referring to Gruden was meant to exaggerate and provoke, and that there is no actual way of a person making emails “come to life.” 
As to “who taught that person,” Deadspin could insist it’s a generic reference that might include teachers, mentors among many others in addition to parents.
But before a jury, those defenses might fall short. The Armenta family can accurately note H.A was not wearing blackface—a statement of fact—and that while the corrected story removes that reference and acknowledges how it erred, it also fails to apologize—perhaps the most important remedy of them all.