close
close

Association-anemone

Bite-sized brilliance in every update

The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars with support from Sandy Hook families
asane

The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars with support from Sandy Hook families

The entity behind the satirical news site The Onion, along with the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, are out to buy right-wing provocateur Alex Jones’ Infowars.

A joint bid by Global Tetrahedron LLC and some of the families was chosen as the winning bid for the Infowars intellectual property, according to a court filing on Thursday. A price has not been disclosed.

A liquidator has been tasked with liquidating Jones’ estate in bankruptcy to help him pay about $1.5 billion in defamation judgments related to statements he made calling Sandy Hook in 2012 a hoax.

“The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring website users with lies until they lose their cold, hard cash,” said The Onion CEO Ben Collins in – a press release. “Or Bitcoin. We will also accept Bitcoin.”

The advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety will be the exclusive advertiser for the website launch. Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for gun safety measures, is endorsed by Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg Law is administered by entities controlled by Michael Bloomberg.

The group will also work with The Onion and has signed a multi-year advertising deal for when the site is relaunched, according to a press release.

Alex Jones, broadcasting on his website on Thursday morning, confirmed that The Onion was the buyer and said there was an attempt underway to close his show.

Jones said there are plans to file an emergency bankruptcy court action to try to prevent the shutdown of his media platform.

“I want to see the documents, I want to see the court order,” Jones said on the show Thursday.

The trustee overseeing Jones’ bankruptcy proceedings named First United American Companies LLC, a business associated with ShopAlexJones.com, as the backup bidder.

Assets up for sale included production and material rights, over 400 domain names, social media accounts, podcast sites, newsletter subscribers, archive, nutritional supplement e-commerce business, product trademarks and production equipment.

The Onion said it plans to begin transitioning the site immediately and plans to launch the new platform in January 2025.

Chris Mattei, an attorney for the eight Connecticut plaintiffs and a partner at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, praised the acquisition in a statement Thursday.

“By divesting Jones of Infowars assets, the families and team at The Onion have done a public service and will significantly impede Jones’ ability to do more harm,” Mattei said.

“We were told that this result would be almost impossible, but we are no strangers to impossible fights. The world needs to see that having a platform does not mean you are above responsibility – the liquidation of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long waited for and fought for,” Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting, he said in a press release.