9-Year-Old Chiefs Fan's Family Sues Deadspin Over Face Paint Controversy

The parents of a 9-year-old Chiefs fan claim a Deadspin article accusing the young boy of wearing blackface to a Kansas City game earlier this year has made their lives a living hell ... and now they're dragging the media outlet to court over it.

The folks of Holden Armenta -- Raul and Shannon Armenta -- filed the suit against the sports media company on Tuesday in Delaware ... alleging Carron Phillips' story about Holden back in November was flat-out defamatory.

You'll recall, Holden painted one side of his face black, and the other side red in support of his favorite Chiefs team as they took on the Raiders in Las Vegas on Nov. 26. According to the suit, when cameras showed only the black side of Holden's noggin during the game's broadcast, Phillips took to his keyboard to demand the NFL take action against the child.

The Armentas claim the article posted to Deadspin remarked on how face paint made it look like Holden had "found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time." The Armentas also said Phillips wrongfully implied that Holden may have been "taught" the alleged "racism and hate" at home.

The Armentas said none of it was true -- writing in the suit that Holden wore his gameday outfit for no other reason than to show his love for Kansas City. They added that Holden is Native American himself.

In the suit, the Armentas said they asked Deadspin repeatedly to retract the story and issue a mea culpa -- but they claim the outlet refused to back down.

They say it's all caused "enormous damage" -- alleging they received death threats and numerous messages containing hateful language. They also said Raul's been forced to consider moving his family out of state -- while Holden's grades have dropped in school. The Armentas claim Holden "has shown emotional damage from the onslaught of negative attention" as well.

They're now suing Deadspin for unspecified damages.