Alex Jones, radio host, greets supporters of President Donald Trump at a rally ahead of Congress’s upcoming Electoral College election vote certification, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, January 5, 2021. On Tuesday night, a bankruptcy judge rejected the sale of Jones’ InfoWars to The Onion. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
A U.S. Bankruptcy judge has rejected the sale of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars media platform to satirical media outlet The Onion.
The onion had won the right to buy InfoWars on Nov. 14 in a bankruptcy auction held to help pay down a $1.5 billion defamation verdict against the far-right commentator. Advertisement
Jones was ordered to pay the penalty to families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting, whom he was found guilty of defaming by spreading false conspiracy theories that the shooting was a hoax, staged by actors in order to convince politicians to enforce gun control.
The Onion CEO Ben Collins said in a statement on BlueSky that they are “deeply disappointed” by the late Tuesday decision and “will continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured.”
Collins said The Onion will persist in its efforts to purchase InfoWars as part of its mission “to make a better, funnier Internet, regardless of the outcome of this case.”
This is a developing story.
