In yet another bad moment for the media, outlet Deadspin was shredded by furious online commentators over its recent claim about a young Kansas City Chiefs fan. The media outlet posted a misleading picture of the boy and demanded the NFL speak out, only to then be caught and called out by numerous furious commenters.
The incident began with a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Deadspin. In the tweet, the outlet posted a picture of a young boy in a Chiefs headdress and face paint, claiming that the boy was in blackface and the NFL needed to speak out against the fan.
In the tweet, Deadspin said, “The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress.” Attached to the tweet was a Deadspin article, the featured image of which showed the boy from the side, making it look like he was wearing blackface to the game. Here’s that tweet:
Media Outlet Gets Skewered Over Misleading Claim about “Kid in Blackface” at Chiefs Game https://t.co/yI2kA6OQHq
— The American Tribune (@TAmTrib) November 29, 2023
The Deadspin article was even more harsh toward the young boy, beginning by saying, “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.”
Twitter quickly called the post out for its misleading nature, noting that really the boy was in Chiefs colors, not blackface. “The picture on the article is misleading. Other pictures of the child in question show that the other half of his face is painted red, black and red being the team’s colors,” it said.
The Libs of TikTok Twitter account, a conservative account known for posting about the left’s online commentary, spoke out about the matter, saying, “Why is @Deadspin @carronJphillips trying to ruin this little kid’s life? They’re accusing him of blackface but conveniently left out his full face which was painted for the game.” That same account later added, “Shame on you trying to ruin a young child’s life. Hope he sues you for defamation.”
Another conservative Twitter account, End Wokeness, called out the Deadspin author behind the story for perceived racism of his own and for what the account claimed was defamation, writing, “This is Deadspin senior editor and writer Carron J. Phillips. Yesterday, he wrote a defamatory hit on a white boy for wearing face paint (his team colors). He even used a deceptive camera angle to make it look like blackface. A glance at his past writings show that his entire agenda is to demonize Whites. This was defamation against a minor with malicious intent. The lawsuit is gonna be glorious.”
Elon Musk commented on the End Wokeness post, agreeing with the claim about the Deadspin author behind the attack on the young boy being a racist. In his comment, Elon wrote, “Carron Phillips is an unapologetic racist and a deceiver. Shame on him.”
Similarly to End Wokeness and the Libs of TikTok, the DC Draino account wrote, “Deadspin shamelessly went after a child for wearing “blackface” at an NFL game, but they only told half the story. Literally. Turns out the other half of his face was painted red, the Chiefs team colors. This kid is about to be RICH from a defamation lawsuit. Get woke, go broke!”