Deadspin Sold To European Startup, Fires All Employees

G/O Media sold Deadspin to the European firm Lineup Publishing on Monday. The new startup media brand has fired all Deadspin staffers, in addition.

G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller informed employees of the decision via the following email:

The remains of Deadspin, as in its latest interaction, will be best remembered for a story in November in which author Carron J. Phillips willfully lied about a nine-year-old Chiefs fan wearing blackface. 

Phillips used a deceptive photo that showed only the side of the child's face painted black; not the entire photo showing the kid painted the other side of his face red in support of the Chiefs. 

The author also stated that the boy "hates black people and Native Americans."

Deadspin and Phillips doubled down on the smear, even after they had clearly lied. Not until 11 days later, when the family of the fan threatened legal action, did Deadspin correct the story.

In February, the family filed a lawsuit against parent company G/O Media alleging author Carron J. Phillips "maliciously and wantonly" attacked their son as part of a "race-drenched political agenda" to "generate clicks."

We spoke to a legal analyst about the lawsuit last month about how Deadspin "cannot claim ignorance" and is likely liable.

Per Lexie Rigden, an attorney and frequent legal analyst for Fox News (check out her viral new column on the Kelce brothers):

"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 wearing blackface); 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 saw the full photo and knew the context in which it was taken); and damages, that some harm was caused to the plaintiff's reputation (the death threats cited in the lawsuit)."

Let's see:

Deadspin published a false statement. Check.

Third parties re-published the false statement. Check.

Deadspin and Phillips knew they printed a false statement. Check.

The kid and his parents endure damages by way of threats and harassment. Check.

Translation: defamation.

Zombie Deadspin also leaves behind a creature called Julie DiCaro, one of the slimiest writers on the internet.  In fact, DiCaro recently filed her own lawsuit against G/O Media and Deadspin because she lost out on a promotion to a male. 

The lawsuit claims that females are part of a "protected class," and thus DiCaro has a pathway to sue under the guise of "Title VII, the Equal Pay Act" if a male is promoted over her.

The new company has already locked out DiCaro from the company Slack.

It's unclear what the European firm has planned for Deadspin. 

However, we can confidently surmise its plans cannot be worse than harassing children and employing slobs like Carron J. Phillips and Julie DiCaro.