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Sale to The Onion - Judge in Alex Jones' Bankruptcy Orders Hearing Over Infowars
Interesting development here: A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas just ordered a hearing about how The Onion, a satirical news publication, managed to win the bidding for Alex Jones' Infowars. This comes after Jones and his legal team raised concerns over how the bankruptcy auction was handled.
Here’s what happened: Jones' lawyers and a company connected to Infowars made a bid of $3.5 million and expected an open bidding round, where buyers could up their offers. Instead, the trustee overseeing the process decided, just a few days before, to go with a sealed bid format, where offers are submitted privately and not out in the open for competitive bidding. That’s a big change, and now Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston wants to take a closer look at what went down, so he’s set a hearing for next week.
The Onion winning this auction is a major twist, especially since they’re backed by some of the Sandy Hook families, who have judgments against Jones for over $1 billion in defamation damages. For years, Jones spread conspiracy theories, including calling the Sandy Hook tragedy a hoax. Now, with The Onion taking control, it sounds like they plan to relaunch Infowars in January as a parody site. Within hours of the sale announcement, Infowars' site went offline, and Jones started broadcasting from what he claimed was a new studio location.
One of the Sandy Hook parents, Robbie Parker, who lost his daughter in the shooting, expressed satisfaction, saying, “The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for.”
So, what exactly did The Onion get? They’re taking over Infowars' website, social media, trademarks, a studio in Austin, Texas, and even its video archives, all for an undisclosed price. Founded in the 1980s, The Onion has a long history of mocking politics and culture, and Jones has often been the subject of their satire. They even have a recurring satirical headline after mass shootings: “‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”
The Onion had some choice words in their own satirical post about the sale, calling Jones a “forgettable man with an already-forgotten name” and joking about getting the deal for “less than one trillion dollars.” True to form, they’re planning to use the platform for satire aimed at conspiracy theories and add educational content on gun violence prevention through a partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety.
As for Jones, he’s angry and pushing back. On his live broadcast, he called the sale an “attack on free speech,” blaming the “deep state” and the “New World Order” for trying to silence him. He says it’s premature to assume The Onion now owns Infowars, claiming the judge hasn’t finalized the winning bid. A company associated with Jones, which was named the backup bidder, has also filed for an immediate status conference, raising issues around transparency and sudden changes in the auction rules.
Interestingly, The Onion reportedly worked on the bid with some of the Sandy Hook families who sued Jones for the emotional harm caused by his conspiracy theories. Lawyer Christopher Mattei, representing the families, said, “Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain, and fear at scale.”
Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, explained they plan to relaunch Infowars with satire and educational content. He admitted that it started as a “very funny joke” but evolved when the Sandy Hook families decided to support The Onion’s bid, wanting to stop Jones from running his site unchecked. Everytown for Gun Safety will be the exclusive advertiser on the new site, marking a fresh start with a focus on gun safety.
In the meantime, Jones still has control of his personal X account, with over 3 million followers, but there’s a question over whether the trustee might be able to sell even those accounts. Jones’ history with Sandy Hook isn’t going away either. For years, he falsely claimed the 2012 shooting was a hoax, leading to trauma for the families, and they’ve testified about the harassment and distress they faced from Jones’ followers. Jones has since admitted the shooting was “100% real.”
The Onion, which describes itself as “America’s Finest News Source” with “4.3 trillion daily readers” (their own satirical exaggeration), has made its mark over the years with headlines poking fun at everything from politics to pop culture. Now, it seems they’re getting a whole new platform to work with, courtesy of the Infowars acquisition.
Wednesday's sealed bids revealed The Onion as the top bidder, while First United American Companies, linked to one of Jones' product sites, was named the backup bid in case the sale doesn’t go through.
Here’s what happened: Jones' lawyers and a company connected to Infowars made a bid of $3.5 million and expected an open bidding round, where buyers could up their offers. Instead, the trustee overseeing the process decided, just a few days before, to go with a sealed bid format, where offers are submitted privately and not out in the open for competitive bidding. That’s a big change, and now Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston wants to take a closer look at what went down, so he’s set a hearing for next week.
The Onion winning this auction is a major twist, especially since they’re backed by some of the Sandy Hook families, who have judgments against Jones for over $1 billion in defamation damages. For years, Jones spread conspiracy theories, including calling the Sandy Hook tragedy a hoax. Now, with The Onion taking control, it sounds like they plan to relaunch Infowars in January as a parody site. Within hours of the sale announcement, Infowars' site went offline, and Jones started broadcasting from what he claimed was a new studio location.
One of the Sandy Hook parents, Robbie Parker, who lost his daughter in the shooting, expressed satisfaction, saying, “The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for.”
So, what exactly did The Onion get? They’re taking over Infowars' website, social media, trademarks, a studio in Austin, Texas, and even its video archives, all for an undisclosed price. Founded in the 1980s, The Onion has a long history of mocking politics and culture, and Jones has often been the subject of their satire. They even have a recurring satirical headline after mass shootings: “‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”
The Onion had some choice words in their own satirical post about the sale, calling Jones a “forgettable man with an already-forgotten name” and joking about getting the deal for “less than one trillion dollars.” True to form, they’re planning to use the platform for satire aimed at conspiracy theories and add educational content on gun violence prevention through a partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety.
As for Jones, he’s angry and pushing back. On his live broadcast, he called the sale an “attack on free speech,” blaming the “deep state” and the “New World Order” for trying to silence him. He says it’s premature to assume The Onion now owns Infowars, claiming the judge hasn’t finalized the winning bid. A company associated with Jones, which was named the backup bidder, has also filed for an immediate status conference, raising issues around transparency and sudden changes in the auction rules.
Interestingly, The Onion reportedly worked on the bid with some of the Sandy Hook families who sued Jones for the emotional harm caused by his conspiracy theories. Lawyer Christopher Mattei, representing the families, said, “Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain, and fear at scale.”
Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, explained they plan to relaunch Infowars with satire and educational content. He admitted that it started as a “very funny joke” but evolved when the Sandy Hook families decided to support The Onion’s bid, wanting to stop Jones from running his site unchecked. Everytown for Gun Safety will be the exclusive advertiser on the new site, marking a fresh start with a focus on gun safety.
In the meantime, Jones still has control of his personal X account, with over 3 million followers, but there’s a question over whether the trustee might be able to sell even those accounts. Jones’ history with Sandy Hook isn’t going away either. For years, he falsely claimed the 2012 shooting was a hoax, leading to trauma for the families, and they’ve testified about the harassment and distress they faced from Jones’ followers. Jones has since admitted the shooting was “100% real.”
The Onion, which describes itself as “America’s Finest News Source” with “4.3 trillion daily readers” (their own satirical exaggeration), has made its mark over the years with headlines poking fun at everything from politics to pop culture. Now, it seems they’re getting a whole new platform to work with, courtesy of the Infowars acquisition.
Wednesday's sealed bids revealed The Onion as the top bidder, while First United American Companies, linked to one of Jones' product sites, was named the backup bid in case the sale doesn’t go through.