The mother of Holden Armenta, who was photographed wearing a headdress and painted face at a Kansas City Chiefs game, has hit back at accusations of racism from Deadspin, slamming the article as “purposely deceiving.” Shannon Armenta took to X to address the accusations made by senior writer Carron Phillips that her son had “doubled up” on racism against black and Native communities, pointing out that he is himself Native American.
The controversy began when a photo of Holden Armenta started circulating online. In the photo, Armenta is seen standing sideways, suggesting that he is wearing blackface with no mention of the red side of his face that is painted. Phillips claimed that the young football fan “found a way to hate Black people and Native Americans at the same time.”
However, Shannon Armenta has identified her son as a Native American, and his grandfather sits on the board of the Chumash Tribe in Santa Ynez, California. The tribe’s website describes Holden’s grandfather as a “business committee member” who has been elected to the board in 2016. “He looks forward to continuing the legacy of building a solid economic foundation for future generations of the Chumash tribe,” the website reads.
Shannon Armenta took to X to share numerous images of her son at the game, showing that he was warmly welcomed by other fans in attendance. She blasted Deadspin for focusing on a photo that hid the fact that half of her son’s face was painted red. She wrote, “He is Native American– just stop already.”
EXCLUSIVE: The 9-year-old Chiefs fan, who was falsely smeared as a racist for supporting his team, speaks out on Primetime.
Holden Armenta says this whole thing has been scary and overwhelming. His father, Bubba, says it’s too late for an apology- the damage is already done. pic.twitter.com/8T4WsMsvm6
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) November 30, 2023
A community note has been added to posts sharing the Deadspin article on X, tagging it as “purposely deceiving.” However, according to reports, Phillips doubled down on his claim in a since-deleted X post, stating, “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.”
Meanwhile, Phillips also blamed the National Football League for the controversy, claiming the league should have been more aggressive in changing the team’s name and banning the “Chop” at Chiefs games. The controversial article has been slammed as “purposely deceiving” and “presupposing an impossible level of perfection in its depiction of the state of race relations in modern day America.”
