After going up for auction to help with his bankruptcy filing, Alex Jones’ website InfoWars was purchased by the publication The Onion. However, Jones is alleging wrongdoing and illegal activity in the deal.
Let’s back up a bit.
In 2022, Jones, an often controversial media figure, was held liable for nearly $1.5 billion in damages to the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, which Jones had said was a “hoax.”
Being unable to afford the damages, Jones filed bankruptcy, and now his assets are being liquidated by the families after a judge granted their request to do so this September.
Jones has alleged illegal actions throughout the process, spreading more conspiracies about their efforts to acquire his platforms.
This brings us to this weekend when the satirical news website The Onion confirmed that in the bankruptcy auction on Thursday, it had won the bid for Jones’s site InfoWars.
“I just wanted to give a quick update on The Onion’s purchase of InfoWars, which we can’t wait to relaunch as the dumbest website on the internet,” The Onion’s CEO Ben Collins wrote in a post on social media.
“The long and short of it: We won the auction and — you’re not going to believe this — the previous InfoWars folks aren’t taking it well.”
The remarks from Collines were regarding a recent claim from Jones that the auction was changed from a “regular auction” to a “secret” auction just days before it occurred. He also said the higher bidders were not allowed to submit offers so that a lower bid would be selected.
Among other accusations, Jones also said the presiding judge admitted the auction “was not real” and that a criminal investigation into the mishandling of bids was ongoing.
Collins has denied all of the claims and accusations from Jones. He also said Jones was allowed to continue using InfoWars until the sale was complete.
“We expected all of this, obviously. Buying this site was always going to be fun later on, but annoying right away. The fun part is still to come,” Collins wrote.
Collins noted that the court hearing to complete the sale will take place Nov. 25.