The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars with help from Sandy Hook families

The satirical news publication The Onion won the bidding Alex Jones’ Bankruptcy Auction Info War Supported by Families of Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Victims Jones Blames more than $1 billion in defamation judgments to call the massacre a hoax.

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

The Onion acquired the conspiracy theory platform’s website; social media accounts; study in Austin, Texas; trademarks; and video archive. The sale price was not immediately disclosed. The Onion said its “exclusive launch advertiser” will be the gun prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

“Everytown will continue to raise awareness on InfoWars’ channels about gun violence prevention and present actual solutions to our nation’s gun violence crisis, including bipartisan measures, common sense and public safety initiatives supported by Everytown,” The Onion said in a statement Thursday.

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

“Final broadcast now live from Infowars studios. They are in the building. Ordering closure without court approval,” Jones said on social platform X.

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

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

The Onion, a satirical website 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 groundbreaking national, international and local news events” and says it has 4.3 trillion daily readers.

Jones has said on his show that if his opponents bought Infowars, he would move his daily broadcasts and product sales to a new studio, websites and social media accounts 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 Jones and his company for defamation and emotional distress for repeatedly saying on his show that the shooting in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax staged by crisis actors to spur more gun control. Parents and children of many of the victims testified that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats from his followers.

The lawsuits were filed in Connecticut and Texas. Attorneys for the families in the Connecticut case said they were working with The Onion to try to acquire Infowars.