The Onion Acquires Infowars

By Dietrich Knauth

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The parody news website The Onion has acquired conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars brand and website in a bankruptcy auction, as documented in court records filed Thursday.

Jones filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 after being ordered to pay $1.5 billion for defaming the victims' families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Unable to settle these legal judgments, he was compelled to auction off his assets, including Infowars.

The families of eight Sandy Hook victims supported The Onion's bid, stating it would help end Jones’ misinformation campaign.

In a statement, The Onion expressed its intention to replace Infowars’ “relentless barrage of disinformation” with their own “relentless barrage of humor.”

Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion, said, “The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash.”

Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the U.S., will serve as the exclusive advertiser on the new Infowars.

The acquisition includes Infowars' intellectual property, website, customer lists, inventory, certain social media accounts, and production equipment, as noted by the families.

In response, Jones stated on social media platform X, “They're shutting us down. I'm going to be here until they come in here and turn the lights off.”