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Conspiracy site Infowars ‘dead’ after satirical publication wins bankruptcy bid

14 Nov 2024 3 minute read
Alex Jones Photo by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Satirical news publication The Onion has won the bidding for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s Infowars at a US bankruptcy auction.

The bid was backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims to whom Jones owes more than 1 billion dollars in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax.

“The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for,” Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the 2012 shooting in Connecticut, said in a statement provided by his lawyers.

The sale price was not immediately disclosed.

Legal challenges

Jones confirmed The Onion’s acquisition of Infowars in a social media video on Thursday and said he planned to file legal challenges to stop it.

“Last broadcast now live from Infowars studios. They are in the building. Are ordering shutdown without court approval,” Jones said on the social platform X.

Jones was broadcasting live from the Infowars studio on Thursday morning and appeared distraught, putting his head in his hands at his desk.

It was not immediately clear what The Onion planned to do with the conspiracy theory platform, including its website, social media accounts, studio in Austin, Texas, trademarks and video archive.

Sealed bids in the private auction were opened on Wednesday. Both supporters and detractors of Jones had expressed interest in buying Infowars. The other bidders have not been disclosed.

Absurd

The Onion, a Chicago-based satirical site that manages to persuade people to believe the absurd, bills itself as “the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events” and says it has 4.3 trillion daily readers.

Jones has been saying on his show that if his detractors bought Infowars, he would move his daily broadcasts and product sales to a new studio, websites and social media accounts that he has already set up.

He also said that if his supporters won the bidding, he could stay on the Infowars platforms.

Relatives of many of the 20 children and six educators killed in the shooting sued Jones and his company for defamation and emotional distress for repeatedly saying on his show that the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax staged by crisis actors to spur more gun control.

Parents and children of many of the victims gave evidence that they were traumatised by Jones’ conspiracies and threats by his followers.

The lawsuits were filed in Connecticut and Texas. Lawyers for the families in the Connecticut lawsuit said they worked with The Onion to try to acquire Infowars.


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Jeff
Jeff
24 days ago

This is excellent. Had to read the other sources a few times sounded too good but Jonesy wont be happy or will it shut him up, he needs to sell his snake oil supplements and idea’s to buy his expensive stuff.

His campaigns against people that have suffered greatly already are heinous and he needs to get a grip. But fear he is like that dog muck worked into the soles of your shoes, difficult to get rid of.

Susan Ingram
Susan Ingram
24 days ago

Hopefully this will be the last we hear from this odious man, I hope they take everything but the shirt on his back.

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
24 days ago

So happy this moron lost his court case. Too bad so sad. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is an absolute fruit loop. This is a man who doubted the 2018, Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings where coward Adam Lanza killed his mother before murdering 20 children & six adults in cold blood. And later on right-wing loon Alex Jones claimed on his channel that the shootings were fake.

Last edited 24 days ago by Y Cymro

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