Deadspin, the leftist sports media outlet that slandered a 9-year-old American Indian boy who wore face paint to a Kansas City Chiefs game, has laid off all its staff and put the company up for sale.
GO WOKE, GO BROKE!
DEADSPIN is being SOLD OFF and EVERYONE HAS BEEN LAID OFF including CARRON J. PHILLIPS, the man who defamed HOLDEN ARMENTA for wearing face paint at a football game!
— Shawn Farash ❌🐻 (@Shawn_Farash) March 11, 2024
The boy was Holden Armenta, whose heritage includes that of the Chumash American Indian tribe. He attended the 2023 Chiefs vs. Raiders game in Las Vegas wearing half-black, half-red face paint along with a traditional headdress. The face paint represented the team colors of the Chiefs.
Deadspin journalist Carron J. Phillips posted a photo of Armenta, which showed only the black side of his face and falsely accused him of wearing blackface makeup. He went on to say in a Deadspin article that the boy “found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time.”
Holden’s family demanded that Deadspin take down the article and issue an apology, but the article remains online and Phillips doubled down on his accusations.
Holden received death threats online and faced additional difficulties in school as a result of the Deadspin piece. His family filed a lawsuit against Deadspin on Feb. 7, seeking unspecified damages and “remedies as the Court may deem just and proper.”
Deadspin’s demise was apparent Monday morning when employees were locked out of company software with 30 minutes’ notice. The European start-up that is purchasing the embattled outlet is not retaining any current employees.
In a letter to staff, Deadspin CEO Jim Spanfeller said: “Impacted staffers were notified Monday that they were being let go from G/O Media, marking the third round of cuts at the firm in less than a year.”
The new owners plan to “build a new team more in line with their editorial vision for the brand,” per Spanfeller’s memo.
Whether the company’s unapologetic slander of a small boy and the resulting legal action was a major factor in its selloff is not entirely clear. Many see the timing as a bit too coincidental, one month after the Holden lawsuit.
The case is similar to that of high schooler Nick Sandmann, who was falsely accused of racism while attending the March for Life in 2019. Leftists screamed in his face while he smiled awkwardly. He won a large settlement from multiple media outlets who libeled him.
The cliché of “go woke, go broke” appears poetically applicable to the soon-to-be-defunct Deadspin.
