Who is Carron J. Phillips? Deadspin writer under fire for accusing Chiefs fan of blackface and racism

A controversial article was recently published on Deadspin by Carron J. Phillips about a Kansas City Chiefs fan allegedly wearing blackface on November 27, 2023. Its title read, "The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress."

The cover image showed a boy, Holden Armenta, wearing a Native American headdress with black and red paint on his face. The write-up put Phillips under fire for failing to uphold the basic journalistic tenet of presenting all sides of the story.

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Carron J. Phillips's educational and work history

According to his LinkedIn profile, Carron J. Phillips is an American journalist who earned his Bachelor of Arts in African-American/Black Studies from Morehouse College in 2006. He also finished his Master of Arts at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2011.

Before earning his M.A., he worked as a Preps Stringer for the Marietta Daily Journal from August to November 2008 and covered preps football in Atlanta, a hot destination for college coaches recruiting talent for their squads.

He then became a beat writer for The Daily Orange from July to December 2010, focusing on the Syracuse Men's Cross Country team. A year later, Phillips became a Sports Writer intern for The Salt Lake Tribune, covering Triple-A baseball, Major League Soccer, and Outdoor Sports, among others.

After his internship, he concentrated on the Syracuse Men's Basketball team for TheNewsHouse.com from July 2010 to March 2011. He also wrote sports articles for The Post-Standard and contributed non-traditional editorials for SLAM Magazine.

In 2012, the Saginaw, Michigan native returned to his hometown to work as a Freelance Sports Writer for MLive.com. Besides covering various sports, he also wrote the "Life After Football" series about athletes transitioning from the sport.

Carron J. Phillips also worked as an Assistant Sports Editor for The News Dispatch in Indiana and as an Engagement Editor for the News Journal Media Group in Wilmington, Delaware. Before joining Deadspin in March 2020, he became a columnist for the New York Daily News and The Shadow League.

The journalist has also contributed articles to The Baltimore Sun. As stated on his Twitter bio, Phillips received Pulitzer Prize nominations in 2019 and 2020, and was also hailed as the 2016 Journalist of the Year by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists.

Aside from the article about Holden Armenta, Phillips also wrote about Deion Sanders' failed first year as Colorado head coach. He also penned about Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill backing up Will Levis in a different way than Malik Willis.

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Update: The family of the young Chiefs fan is suing Carron J. Phillips with defamation lawsuit

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Backlash received by Carron J. Phillips for his Holden Armenta article

As Twitter users clarified under Deadspin's related tweet about Phillips' article, Armenta had red paint on the other side of his face. For additional context, the social media platform further explained:

“Blackface is the use of dark makeup to mimic and exaggerate the features of Black people in order to ridicule them. This fan’s face is painted red & black to support the Kansas City Chiefs. Facepaint is a popular practice at NFL games and is not related to blackface.”

Meanwhile, the boy's mother, Shannon Armenta, revealed that Holden has Native American roots. In a post on Facebook, she wrote:

“This has nothing to do with the NFL. Also, CBS showed him multiple times and this is the photo people chose to blast to create division. He is Native American - just stop already.”

Holden Armenta's grandfather, Raul Armenta, is on the Business Committee of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, the only federally recognized Chumash tribe in the United States.

Shannon Armenta also posted additional pictures on Facebook to prove Carron J. Phillips wrong.

Trending Politics co-owner Collin Rugg tweeted a video of Armenta doing the tomahawk chop, which some Black Kansas City Chiefs players copied.

Finally, even Elon Musk gave his take on this matter by commenting:

“And another @CommunityNotes win exposing deception”

There is no word yet if Holden Armenta's family will pursue legal action against Deadspin and Carron J. Phillips.