On Tuesday, a federal judge denied the proposed sale of Infowars, a conspiracy website owned by Alex Jones, to The Onion, a satirical news outlet. The Onion had owned the bid to acquire Infowars; however, the judge withheld the sales due to the unethical and flawed bidding process.
Infowars faced legal allegations after Alex Jones called the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting a hoax. Jones claimed that the deadly shooting was a false one, staged by actors to send a message to the government to bring tighter gun control laws.
However, in reality, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting killed more than 20 students and 6 teachers. The families of the victims stated that Jones' conspiracy theory caused them significant trauma.
What was The Onion's bid to buy Infowars? Offer revealed as Judge blocks the sale
According to the reports, some of the victims' families contributed to The Onion’s bid in the auction. The Onion, through its parent company Global Tetrahedron, proposed a $1.75 million cash offer, with a “credit” from the families, who agreed to waive their entire share of the winning bid, bringing the total value of the bid to $7 million.
Ben Collins, The Onion's CEO, shared that he wanted to turn Infowars into a parody platform. However, on Tuesday Judge Christopher Lopez shared concerns over the unethical bidding and blocked the sale.
The majority of the profits from the sale of Infowars was set to go towards the families of the shooting victims, as Jones lost a defamation lawsuit in 2022 and owed $1.5 billion to victims' families.
The Onion CEO expressed heavy disappointment over the judge's ruling and said,
"We are deeply disappointed in today’s decision, but The Onion will continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured. We will also continue to seek a path towards purchasing InfoWars in the coming weeks. It is part of our larger mission to make a better, funnier internet, regardless of the outcome of this case."
Christopher Mattei, one of the lawyers for the victims' families, further stated,
"These families, who have already persevered through countless delays and roadblocks, remain resilient and determined as ever to hold Alex Jones and his corrupt businesses accountable for the harm he has caused."
Lopez confirmed there would be no second auction and said the next steps would be determined by the trustee who oversaw the first auction. Later on Tuesday evening, Jones reacted to the judge's ruling by saying,
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"We can celebrate the judge doing the right thing with the most ridiculous fraudulent auction known in human history."
However, the future of Infowars is still in question and Jones still owes nearly $1 billion to the victims' families.
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