From yesterday's by Delaware trial court Judge Sean Lugg in Armenta v. G/O Media, Inc.:
Deadspin published an image of a child displaying his passionate fandom as a backdrop for its critique of the NFL's diversity efforts and, in its description of the child, crossed the fine line protecting its speech from defamation claims.
On November 26, 2023, the Armenta family, a mother, father, and their minor son, traveled from California to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend an NFL game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs. To support his favorite team, H.A., the Armentas' minor son, wore Native American headdress, painted his face black and red, and donned a Chiefs jersey. During the game, a television broadcast focused briefly on H.A. Soon afterwards, still images, or "screenshots," of the television broadcast circulated online.
The following day, Deadspin published an article, with an accompanying screenshot, describing the boy as wearing "Black face" in a display of racial animus toward African Americans and "Native headdress" to display his hatred toward the Native American. The article further surmised that Raul and Shannon Armenta, H.A.'s parents, taught H.A. that hatred.
The court allowed the Armentas' defamation claim against Deadspin to go forward:
