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The Onion, the satirical publication, won an auction to acquire the assets of Alex Jones' Infowars empire. The CEO of the Onion has vowed to transform Infowars into a "cosmic joke" for the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.
Jones announced the transaction on Thursday morning in a video posted to the X social media platform.
'The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for.'
Jones stated that his website had been "shut down" this morning "even without a court order."
The Infowars site is a black page that only reads: "Site unavailable till further notice."
Jones said he was told that the winning bid was "competitive" but not necessarily the highest bid. Financial details of the winning bid to acquire Free Speech Systems — the parent company of Infowars — were not disclosed.
Jones noted, "The Connecticut Democrats with the Onion newspaper bought us."
The Onion acquired Infowars' website, social media accounts, trademarks, video archive, and studio in Austin, Texas.
"I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm going to be here until they turn the lights off," Jones declared.
Jones added, "They want to silence the American people, but we're not going to be silenced."
Infowars was put up for auction after the court-appointed trustee in charge of Jones' bankruptcy proceedings advocated to shut down the site and liquidate his assets.
Jones filed for bankruptcy in late 2022 after juries ordered him to pay nearly $1.5 billion to families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting — in which 20 first-grade students and six adults were killed.
Jones previously said the mass shooting massacre was a hoax.
Lawsuits filed by the families in Connecticut and Texas claimed that Jones defamed them on his show and inflicted emotional distress by repeatedly suggesting the shooting was a hoax.
Several of the Sandy Hook families supported the sale of Infowars.
“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,” said Chris Mattei, attorney for the Connecticut families. "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."
Everytown for Gun Safety — an organization that advocates for gun control — said it will be the exclusive advertiser in the Onion’s new venture as part of a multiyear agreement.
“It’s fitting that a platform once used to profit off of tragedy will be a tool of education, hence our multiyear advertising commitment to this new venture,” stated John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. "We’re proud to be a part of what comes next, not only in terms of staunching the flow of hurtful misinformation, but also for the potential this new venture has to help Everytown reach new audiences ready to hold the gun industry accountable for contributing to our nation’s gun violence epidemic."
Robbie Parker, whose daughter was killed in the school shooting, said in a statement, "The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for."
The Onion CEO Ben Collins said, "The Onion has a long history of helping the American public navigate some of the most difficult moments in American life, from our historic issue after 9/11 to our groundbreaking reportage after every American mass shooting. In that tradition, we hope the Sandy Hook families will be able to marvel at the cosmic joke we will soon make of Infowars.com."
In a satirical article, the Onion noted that Infowars was founded in 1999 "on the heels of the Satanic 'panic' and growing steadily ever since."
"Infowars has distinguished itself as an invaluable tool for brainwashing and controlling the masses," the Onion added. "With a shrewd mix of delusional paranoia and dubious anti-aging nutrition hacks, they strive to make life both scarier and longer for everyone, a commendable goal."
The publication said it plans to launch the new platform in January 2025.
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