Dan Le Batard Defends Deadspin For Lying About Chiefs Kid Wearing Blackface

Phillips used a deceptive photo that showed only the side of the kid's face painted black. In actuality, the fan's face was painted half black and half red in support of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Deadspin has since refused to correct the report or show the full image of the fan's face.

And yet, Dan Le Batard has come to the defense of Deadspin. He said despite the outlet outright lying about the kid wearing blackface, the fan was still "in full racist garb."

“A five-year-old kid at a game has been dressed in face paint and he is wearing Native American gear, he’s at a Chiefs game. Half of his face is red, half of his face is black,” said Le Batard. “‘He should be punished because he’s wearing blackface and you’re only seeing half of his face.’ And then you see, ‘Nope, there’s also red face.’

“The right picked this up and said, ‘Sue Deadspin, bankrupt Deadspin.’ And I can’t help but laugh at the center of this, I can’t help but laugh at the idea that they want them sued for one racism, while the kid is still in full racist garb. The only part of him that’s not intentionally, kind of, racist is the black part! The rest is team colors and he’s going for just being a fan, but the racism is already in there, just not the kind the right is picking up and flogging Deadspin with over a five-year-old kid. Like, the stupidity of this is remarkable.”

Got that?

According to Dan Le Batard, Deadspin is not at fault for falsely depicting an innocent child as a racist. Instead, the right is at fault for holding Deadspin accountable.

What's interesting about Le Batard defending Deadspin against a potential lawsuit is what he, himself, shared on X after the game.

Monday, Le Batard reposted a tweet also showing only the side of the kid's face painted black. The caption of the tweet claimed the kid's attendance at the game proved the NFL is not actually trying to "end racism," as painted across its end zones.

Le Batard has since removed the post from his page.

We sent him an email asking why. We will update this story if we hear back. For now, we can only guess.

Perhaps he is a bit nervous that the family could come after him for using his reach to further malign their child.

After all, he has about 500,000 X followers who saw an image that suggests the kid wore blackface in public.

And though it's unlikely there are enough grounds to sue Le Batard for sharing the post and deleting it, the same cannot be said for Deadspin and Phillips.

Lexie Rigden, an attorney and frequent legal analyst for Fox News, told OutKick Tuesday morning that Deadspin should be liable for defamation.

“The ‘Chiefs fan’ and his parents should sue Phillips and Deadspin for defamation for the damage to his reputation,” Rigden told OutKick.

“Although defamation laws vary state by state, in general, to prove defamation, a plaintiff would have to show that a false statement was made (i.e. that this child is a hateful racist); that the statement was published to third parties (easy–it’s all over the internet, with even Elon Musk commenting); that the defendant knew it was false or was at least was negligent in publishing it (Phillips and Deadspin knew damn well that this was a fan dressed to celebrate his team and he was not in black face. Shame on them for labeling a child a racist); and damages, that some harm was caused to the plaintiff’s reputation (there will no doubt be people who agree with Phillips, regardless of whether a retraction or correction is ever printed).”

Le Batard defending a man who bullies children is a new low. Even for him.

And Le Batard is the guy who employs Howard Bryant, a man arrested for choking his wife.

Hmm.

I am starting to think this Dan Le Batard character isn't as admirable as he claims.

Sure, he isn't as bad as Deadspin or Karen Phillips. But he's close.