In the end, Holden Armenta got the last laugh.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes rallied his team on Sunday to win just the second overtime game in the 58-year history of the Super Bowl. The Chiefs are the champs for a second consecutive year after beating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22.
No one was likely happier than Holden, the 9-year-old Chiefs fan who was denounced as a racist by a left-wing sportswriter because he wore a full Indian headdress and black and red facepaint at a game earlier this season.
Read: Kansas City Chiefs’ Historic Victory In Super Bowl LVIII: A Triumph Of Grit And Skill
According to Fox News, he was at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas to cheer on his team, and while he didn’t get the score right, he correctly predicted the Chiefs’ 3-point winning margin.
Holden, however, may come up with a winner in another way.
On Friday, Holden’s parents, Shannon and Raul, sued the sports website Deadspin and writer Caron Phillips, who generated the controversy by claiming Holden was racist with his story headlined “The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress,” the New York Post reported.
Phillips asserted that the Chiefs were “doubling up on the racism” through their young fan, asserting he insulted blacks and Native Americans.
Read: Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Wins Pete Rozelle Trophy As Super Bowl LVIII MVP
The controversy blew up, however, when the public learned that Holden is actually of Native American descent.
While Deadspin amended the story and took down the photo showing the half of his face with the black paint, the family sued, saying the article defamed him.
“The damage was already done, however, the family claimed — with Holden being called a ‘p—y” and “motherf—er” online, as well as being threatened with death via ‘wood chipper,” the Post reported.
“Deadspin has gone too far. [Holden] should not have to live with his face being plastered on social media alongside false and defamatory accusations of racist conduct. His parents should not be forced to live with the false and defamatory allegation that they are teaching ‘hate in the home,’” the family’s lawyers said in the lawsuit.
“The Article falsely alleged that [Holden] had ‘found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time.’ It alleged that [Holden]’s parents, Shannon and Raul, ‘taught’ [Holden] ‘racism and hate’ at home,” the lawsuit continued.
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“It intentionally painted a picture of the Armenta Family as anti-Black, anti-Native American bigots who proudly engaged in the worst kind of racist conduct motivated by their family’s hatred for Black and Native Americans.”
“The Armenta Family brings this lawsuit to set the record straight and to hold Deadspin accountable for willfully spreading incendiary lies about a nine-year-old child who it chose as a vehicle for its race-baiting agenda,” court records stated.
The Post added that the Armentas seek unspecified damages for the defamatory assault on their son by Phillips and Deadspin.
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