Holden Armata is the young man who was attacked by Deadspin for wearing a Native American headdress and what the outlet initially claimed was “blackface,” but turned out to really be red and black face paint. That is to say, he was wearing Kansas City Chiefs colors and regalia, as he is a Chiefs fan and was at a Chiefs game.
Now, with Deadspin not satisfactorily backing down, according to Holden’s parents, they are considering suing, accusing Deadspin of defamation for what it and its employees said about Holden both in the article and on X.
In a letter obtained by NewsNationNow, the lawyers the family evidently retained, Clare Locke LLP, both demanded a retraction from and threaten further legal action against the article’s author, Carron J. Phillips, and Deadspin, G/O Media, and Great Hill Partners. They said, “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.”
Holden’s father, Bubba, indicated that a lawsuit might be the result when he and Holden appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime” to discuss the matter with FNC host Jesse Watters. Speaking about the incident and the headdress, Bubba pointed out that Holden is a Native American and argued that it is too late for Deadspin to apologize, as the damage was already done by the story and uproar it raised.
In his comments to Watters, Bubba said, “I don’t even know what to think about [apologizing]. It’s kind of a little too late for that. The damage is already done. It’s 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.”
Continuing, he described Holden’s ancestry and commented on the headdress, saying, “The tribe we’re from doesn’t even wear that type of headdress. …It’s a costume piece. That’s exactly what we had purchased it for and wore it for. Not in any disrespect towards any Native Americans at all. It’s just it’s been a whirlwind of comments coming from other tribes or members. Some think it’s okay. Some think it’s not okay. It’s a nine-year-old boy supporting his team.” Watch him here:
Conservative commentators joined in as well to express their anger and frustration over the attempted smear job against Holden, a young boy. Conservative commentator Dan Bongino, for example, appeared in Chiefs colors as well to stand for Holden, letting fly with a long tirade against cancel culture and the mainstream media as he did so.
During that segment of The Dan Bongino Show, he said, “But this is your way to tell cancel culture, stick it up your ass. Karen Phillips is dedicated to you and Holden Armenta, sweet young kid who did the right thing, not the easy thing representing his team. Stand strong brother. We’re all with you. Paint your face to show these cancel culture assholes. We really don’t care Joseph, Carolina to do that. I don’t know why Karen did that. But I know why I did this. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.” Watch him here:
Featured image credit: Bobby Burack Twitter
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