The Onion, the satirical news publication, has acquired Infowars, the media outlet led by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, at a court-ordered auction for an undisclosed amount.
The Onion announced that its successful bid was made with support from the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who won a $1.5 billion (£1.18 billion) defamation lawsuit against Jones after he spread false claims about the massacre.
A Texas judge had ordered the auction in September, and various parties, including both allies and critics of Jones, had indicated their intention to place bids on the company.
Jones founded Infowars in 1999. Despite the sale, he has pledged to continue broadcasting on a new platform.
In a lengthy video posted on Thursday, Jones described the sale as a “total attack on free speech.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to be here until they come in and turn the lights off,” Jones stated. “This is the tyranny of the New World Order, desperate to silence the American people, the mandate of Trump against all the lawfare – they don’t care.”
The Onion plans to revamp the website, featuring well-known internet humorists and content creators.
“We’re looking to make it a very funny, very stupid website,” said Ben Collins, the former NBC News journalist and current CEO of The Onion’s parent company, in a statement.
A tongue-in-cheek article on the website also claimed that Infowars “has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society.”
The article continued by stating that The Onion “outwitted the hapless owner of Infowars” and “forced him to sell it at a steep bargain: less than one trillion dollars.”
Chris Mattei, the attorney representing the families of eight Sandy Hook victims, said the bid was backed by the families.
“By divesting Jones of Infowars’ assets, the families and the team at The Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones’ ability to do more harm,” Mattei said in a statement.
Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie died in the Sandy Hook shooting, commented: “The world needs to see that having a platform does not mean you are above accountability – the dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for.”
Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit organization focused on gun control, announced an agreement to advertise on the revamped Infowars site.
Jones started out as a fringe broadcaster in Austin, Texas, during the 1990s, and later built a large audience with a mix of opinion, speculation, and conspiracy theories. The company generates much of its income through an online store selling vitamins and other products.
Over time, Infowars gained a following among Donald Trump’s allies and supporters. During his first presidential campaign, Trump appeared on the show, telling Jones: “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”
The company’s financial troubles were largely tied to broadcasts made after the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20 children and six adults were killed.
Following the massacre, Jones and his guests frequently questioned whether the event had actually occurred, peddling theories that it was faked or staged by government agents.
At one point, Jones labeled the attack a “giant hoax,” and in 2015, he claimed, “Sandy Hook is a synthetic, completely fake with actors, in my view, manufactured… I knew they had actors there clearly, but I thought they killed some real kids, and it just shows how bold they are, that they clearly used actors.”
Believers of these conspiracy theories harassed the families of the Sandy Hook victims, sending them disturbing images of their deceased children and gravestones, as well as posting their personal details online. Some individuals even traveled to Newtown to “investigate” the event, leading to several arrests related to the harassment.
Jones later acknowledged that the massacre was real but insisted his statements were protected by US free speech laws.
However, the families of the victims won defamation cases against Jones and his company over his false claims.
Jones declared bankruptcy in 2022 as the Sandy Hook lawsuits progressed, and in June 2024, a judge ordered the liquidation of Jones’ personal assets, including a multimillion-dollar ranch, other properties, cars, boats, and firearms, totaling around $8.6 million according to court documents.
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