Alex Jones’s Infowars has been bought by satirical news website The Onion during a forced bankruptcy auction, according to reports.
The satire site won the auction during closed bidding.
However, the sale price was not disclosed.
The acquisition was announced on Thursday by The Onion’s CEO Ben Collins.
Collins said the deal has the support of families of victims of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Jones and Infowars were forced into bankruptcy by a lawsuit from the Sandy Hook families.
As a result of the lawsuit, Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments to the Sandy Hook families for making claims about the Sandy Hook shooting.
In September, a Texas judge ruled that the broadcaster’s assets—including the Infowars properties—could be auctioned off to help cover the penalties.
In a video statement posted on social media platform X, where he has nearly 3 million followers, Jones said he plans to file legal challenges against the sale.
“I just got word 15 minutes ago that my lawyers and folks met with the U.S. trustee over our bankruptcy this morning and they said they are shutting us down even without a court order this morning,” Jones said.
“The Connecticut Democrats with The Onion newspaper bought us.”
Infowars now appears to have been taken offline after Jones said it would be shut down.
The 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.
It was not immediately clear what The Onion plans to do with Infowars, including its website, social media accounts, trademarks, a studio in Austin, Texas, as well as other intellectual properties.
However, Collins has vowed to transform Infowars into a “cosmic joke.”
“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,” Collins said in a statement.
“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.”
“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,” Collins added.
“Or Bitcoin. We will also accept Bitcoin.”
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 article 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 “Infowars” platform in January 2025.
Founded in 1988, the satirical paper has a long history of creating absurd “news” stories that parody real events, sometimes resulting in high-profile readers mistakenly believing its satire to be genuine reports.
Meanwhile, Everytown for Gun Safety, a Michael Bloomberg-funded nonprofit group advocating for gun control, has hinted at a twist for Infowars’ future.
Accusing Jones of engaging in “a relentless barrage of disinformation for the sake of selling supplements,” Everytown announced Thursday it has signed a multiyear deal to become Infowars’ exclusive advertiser.
Everytown will advertise on the site during its relaunch and use the platform to promote gun control activism.
“It’s fitting that a platform once used to profit off of tragedy will be a tool of education, hence our multi-year advertising commitment to this new venture,” said John Feinblatt, Everytown’s president.
“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.”
