A writer for a sports blog called Deadspin targeted a child wearing face paint at a Kansas City Chiefs football game, attempting to smear the boy as wearing “black face.”
The writer, Carron J. Phillips, posted a misleading picture of the child, showing only one side of his face.
X’s Community Notes explained the other side of the boy’s face was painted red, thus wearing his team’s colors for the game.
“The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress,” Deadspin posted Monday.
“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,” Community Notes explained.
https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/1729166833520177256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1729166833520177256%7Ctwgr%5Eb3e9aeac675c0a775e50408f8c856bb2dc16f2b6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.infowars.com%2F
Phillips wrote on Deadspin:
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.
It was as if Jon Gruden’s emails had come to life.
The image of a Chiefs fan in Black face wearing a Native headdress during a road game leads to so many unanswered questions.
Why did the camera person give this fan the attention?
Why did the producer allow that camera angle to be aired at all?
Is that fan a kid/teenager or a young adult?
Despite their age, who taught that person that what they were wearing was appropriate?
The answers to all of those questions lead back to the NFL. While it isn’t the league’s responsibility to stop racism and hate from being taught in the home, they are a league that has relentlessly participated in prejudice. If the NFL had outlawed the chop at Chiefs games and been more aggressive in changing the team’s name, then we wouldn’t be here.
X users criticized Phillips:
Shame on you trying to ruin a young child’s life. Hope he sues you for defamation. https://t.co/XAyenORfQ6
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 28, 2023
The media is really trying to smear a child over this.
The author of this piece is @carronJphillips
What a bully.
Shame on you @Deadspin pic.twitter.com/3gH4WTs2K8
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) November 28, 2023
Congrats. You win the dumbest writer on the Internet award for the day. Don't be surprised if you cost your employers millions of dollars.
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 28, 2023
The person who wrote this must hate himself and everything about his life to act like such a baby. This person is everything that’s wrong with race relations in America.
— Bradley Scott 🙏🇺🇸 (@Hoosiers1986) November 28, 2023
Imagine trying to purposefully ruin a child’s life with a hit piece that is intentionally misleading.
Shame on @carronJphillips and @Deadspin https://t.co/DTeH6RsFS3 pic.twitter.com/dmOedcs2Cv
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 28, 2023
I hope this kid’s family sues @Deadspin into complete obscurity. You unbelievable shitheads. https://t.co/xLeCV4uy8M
— Kira (@RealKiraDavis) November 28, 2023
Kid is supporting the color of his team and you're just race baiting pieces of shit. Nick Sandmann ver 2.0 get ready to get sued into Oblivion. https://t.co/Xc1B3zb9ez pic.twitter.com/MFeuyjFptk
— Steve Inman (@SteveInmanUIC) November 27, 2023
Deadspin just made this kid a millionaire with the slander. https://t.co/dL5x3afKAJ
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) November 27, 2023
Phillips doubled down on his article.
“For the idiots in my mentions who are treating this as some harmless act because the other side of his face was painted red, I could make the argument that it makes it even worse. Y’all are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear sombreros on Cinco,” he wrote.
“The colors of the Kansas City Chiefs are red and black. The colors on the fan’s face are a reference to the team colors, not to races or skin colors,” Community Notes explained.
https://twitter.com/carronJphillips/status/1729251787259978177
X users ratioed Phillips again:
Absolutely bodied by the ratio and community notes.😭😂 Deadly double whammy https://t.co/1GxPhq9pfi
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) November 28, 2023
These people can no longer be tolerated and must only be mocked and ridiculed because they’re not serious human beings, and they’ve gotten more than enough playtime calling everybody else racists. Time to shut these jackass clowns down once and for all. https://t.co/e6p9Q5QaH2
— Brandon Straka (@BrandonStraka) November 28, 2023
You wrote a hit piece about a small child. Something went very wrong in your life. https://t.co/W6D94p5eMP
— Cassandra MacDonald (@CassandraRules) November 28, 2023
“For those pointing out that my argument was stupid, rest assured that I am capable of making an even more stupid one if pushed.” https://t.co/aQLmGE3LX2
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 27, 2023
So we finally have a term for a male Karen. It’s a Carron. https://t.co/1UQzrhVwZQ
— Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) November 28, 2023
Phillips started blocking users who criticized his article.
Clown. @carronJphillips pic.twitter.com/fR7fFGEMZi
— Alex Rosen (@iFightForKids) November 28, 2023
Hahaha pic.twitter.com/auROmO0lng
— Steve Inman (@SteveInmanUIC) November 28, 2023
“As a American Native, I fully condone this fan’s actions. This is not cultural appropriation for harm, but honoring by motif. If we keep removing these references we will have eventually removed all memory. The Hunt family has long honored us. GO CHIEFS!” one X user wrote.
As a American Native, I fully condone this fan's actions. This is not cultural appropriation for harm, but honoring by motif. If we keep removing these references we will have eventually removed all memory. The Hunt family has long honored us. GO CHIEFS!
— KC IRONFAN (@KCIronFan) November 28, 2023
“Turns out not only is @carronJphillips trying to destroy a little kid’s life with false accusations of blackface, he’s actually racist himself. They always accuse others of what they themselves are doing,” Libs of TikTok wrote, citing a 2016 tweet from the writer.
Turns out not only is @carronJphillips trying to destroy a little kid’s life with false accusations of blackface, he’s actually racist himself. They always accuse others of what they themselves are doing. pic.twitter.com/cm0iNf3qln
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 28, 2023
Elon Musk also commented, saying X Community Notes got another win exposing deception.
And another @CommunityNotes win exposing deception pic.twitter.com/ul5jmjbgRW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2023