The Onion, a satirical news site, said it has reached a deal to take over Infowars, the platform run by Alex Jones, in a move that could help Jones generate the funds needed to cover the more than $1 billion he owes to families of victims from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
“With the help of the Sandy Hook families, The Onion has reached a long-awaited deal to take over Infowars,” Onion CEO Ben Collins posted Monday on Bluesky.
If approved by the court, the deal would mark the latest turn in a legal battle that has stretched for over 18 months over the fate of Jones’s media operation.
Jones was found liable for defamation in 2022 after repeatedly saying on his show that the Sandy Hook shooting, which left 20 children and 6 adults dead, was a hoax. He was then ordered to pay the victims’ families $1.3 billion.
Jones has not yet paid the victims from the settlement, paving the way for his assets, including Infowars, to be sold. Shortly after the verdict, he filed for bankruptcy and has been in bankruptcy proceedings for three years. The Onion then won a court-mandated auction in 2024 to purchase Infowars.
Under the agreement, which has been accepted by the Sandy Hook families, the Onion would begin by paying a monthly licensing fee to the court-appointed receiver managing Infowars.
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If the agreement is approved, the Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, would be required to pay $81,000 a month to license Infowars.com and the InfoWars brand for an initial six months, with an option to renew for another six months.
The new Infowars platform will follow suit with the Onion’s signature satire brand and will operate as a comedy network led by creative director Tim Heidecker, who will parody Jones.