Judge rejects sale of InfoWars to The Onion

A federal bankruptcy judge has rejected the sale of InfoWars, the website founded by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, to The Onion. Judge Christopher M. Lopez made the ruling late Tuesday night (December 10th) after The Onion won the site and its assets in an auction last month.

The satirical publication’s bid was supported by families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, who won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Jones in 2022 after he spent years claiming the tragedy was a hoax.

Judge Lopez had temporarily halted the sale in late November to review appeals from Jones and another bidder. According to reporting from The New York Times and NBC News, the judge said The Onion had not submitted the best bid for Jones’ creditors.

“I don’t think it’s enough money,” the judge said. “I’m going to not approve the sale.” He added that “you’ve got to go out and try to get every dollar” and “the process fell down.”

The judge said court-appointed trustee Christopher Murray had acted in good faith, but the apparent lack of transparency in running the auction prevented a rival bidder from returning with a higher number.

“It seemed doomed almost from the moment they decided to go to a sealed bid,” he said. “Nobody knows what anybody else is bidding.”

The Onion’s bid amounted to $7 million total, with $1.75 million in cash coming from the site’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, and the rest from the Sandy Hook victims’ families, who pledged to forgo a portion of the auction proceeds.

Jeff Tanenbaum, an expert who advised Murray on the sale, said this combined bid was better than the $3.5 million cash offer from First United American Companies, which has an association with Jones’ dietary supplements store.

While a lawyer for First United American insisted the all-cash bid should have won, Judge Lopez didn’t agree. “I don’t even think the $3.5 million is enough,” he said.

In a statement, Onion CEO Ben Collins said the company was “deeply disappointed” in the decision but would “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.”

He added, “We appreciate that the court repeatedly recognized The Onion acted in good faith, but are disappointed that everyone was sent back to the drawing board with no winner, and no clear path forward for any bidder.”

In a separate statement, Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Sandy Hook families, said they were also disappointed with the decision.

“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,” Mattei said. “This decision doesn’t change the fact that, soon, Alex Jones will begin to pay his debt to these families and he will continue doing so for as long as it takes.”

During the hearing, the ever-theatrical Jones held what he billed as his “final Infowars broadcast ever” while wrongly telling viewers the company was being purchased by billionaire Michael Bloomberg. He had previously alleged fraud and collusion in the bankruptcy auction.

For now, The Onion’s plan to relaunch InfoWars in January 2025 “as a parody” of its former self has been dashed and Jones can continue spouting off conspiracy theories.