The Onion, a satirical publication, acquired Infowars, the website founded by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in a bankruptcy auction on Thursday. The Onion‘s bid was supported by families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.
In 2022, the families won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, for spreading false claims about the shooting. The lawsuit forced Jones to declare bankruptcy, leading to Infowars and other company assets being auctioned to compensate creditors, including the Sandy Hook families.
Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, confirmed the successful bid. The purchase price was not disclosed.
“We thought this would be a hilarious joke,” Collins said, as quoted by The New York Times. “This is going to be our answer to this no-guardrails world where there are no gatekeepers, and everything’s kind of insane.”
The Onion plans to relaunch Infowars in January 2024 as a parody of itself, focusing on satirizing misinformation and online personalities like Jones. The revamped site will feature a redesigned format and sponsored content from Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending gun violence.
Chris Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families, said that taking possession of Infowars signifies accountability for “Alex Jones and his corrupt business.”
