In what reads like a headline you might read at the Onion, Alex Jones' Infowars, a right-wing conspiracy-and-vitamin-hawking site, has been sold in bankruptcy proceedings to, well, the Onion. Jones isn't taking the not-fake news well, posting on X that "I just got word 15 minutes ago that my lawyers and folks met with the US trustee over our bankruptcy this morning and they said they are shutting us down even without a court order this morning. The Connecticut Democrats with the Onion newspaper bought us." The "Connecticut Democrats" would be some of the families of Sandy Hook victims, whose $1.5 billion defamation award against Jones brought about the sale of his assets, reports NBC News.
On Thursday, a federal bankruptcy judge in Houston said he had questions about the auction process, too, after Jones and his lawyers raised issues. A company connected to Infowars that submitted an offer said it was expecting a round of bidding to take place Wednesday, giving potential buyers a chance to outbid each other. Instead, lawyers argued, the trustee overseeing the auction changed the process days ago and considered only the sealed bids that had been submitted. Judge Christopher Lopez ordered a hearing for sometime next week, per the AP.
"Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones' ability to spread lies, pain, and fear at scale," says Chris Mattei, an attorney for the families, who have yet to collect anything from Jones. "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." Infowars appears to be currently down, and a source tells NBC that the plan is to rebuild it with "well-known internet humor writers and content creators."
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Meanwhile, over at the actual Onion, Bryce P. Tetraeder, CEO of parent company Global Tetrahedron, writes that the decision to buy was "an easy one. ... Infowars has distinguished itself as an invaluable tool for brainwashing and controlling the masses." Further, "Infowars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society—values that resonate deeply with all of us at Global Tetrahedron." As for "the hapless owner of Infowars," he was forced "to sell it at a steep bargain: less than one trillion dollars." (More Infowars stories.)
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