The Onion Wins Auction to Take Over InfoWars

For once, the “funniest imaginable outcome” is not an exaggeration. The Onion, the satirical quality website that started arsenic a paper successful the 1980s, says it won a bankruptcy auction to get InfoWars, the fringe right-wing website tally by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

It appears that InfoWars could spell offline imminently, though Jones says helium volition proceed to broadcast until the past infinitesimal and is promoting a caller website wherever helium plans to restart his show. “At immoderate clip they could virtually conscionable unopen america off, immoderate minute, poof,” Jones said successful a livestream connected X. “There’s a backup workplace successful the Alex Jones network, we deliberation ahead. This volition person a elephantine Streisand Effect, they deliberation we’re defeated, we’re not defeated.” Jones started his vocation streaming from his home, and it seems apt that helium volition present instrumentality to those roots.

For years, Jones dispersed mendacious allegations that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting ne'er really happened, and that the parents of the victims were situation actors hired with the intent of repealing Second Amendment rights. The families sued Jones for defamation, and helium was subsequently ordered to pay $1.4 cardinal dollars successful damages to the families. Jones’s media empire was subsequently forced into liquidation. He has since acknowledged that the shooting was not a mendacious emblem operation.

Jones had hoped that supporters would travel guardant to bargain InfoWars and let him to proceed broadcasting his regular quality show, but it seems that didn’t yet travel to pass. It’s unclear however overmuch The Onion paid for InfoWars. The Onion itself was acquired successful April by Jeff Lawson, the billionaire laminitis of Twilio, and brought successful erstwhile NBC News newsman Ben Collins arsenic CEO.

“The Onion’s extremity with the acquisition is to extremity Infowars’ relentless barrage of disinformation for the involvement of selling supplements and regenerate it with The Onion’s relentless barrage of wit for good,” a property merchandise reads. “The Onion is arrogant to get Infowars, and we look guardant to continuing its storied contented of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork implicit their cold, hard cash. Or Bitcoin. We besides judge Bitcoin.”

The Onion partnered connected the acquisition with Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit formed aft the Sandy Hook shooting to advocator for weapon control. The property merchandise says that Everytown signed a multi-year advertizing statement and volition beryllium the exclusive advertiser connected Infowars during the relaunch period.

“We anticipation the Sandy Hook families volition beryllium capable to marvel astatine the cosmic gag we volition marque of Infowars,” said Collins. Jones is already considered somewhat of a parody for his outrageous and over-the-top claims, and clips from his amusement person repeatedly been utilized to comedic effect. It’s unclear however The Onion could marque thing much absurd. But either way, it should springiness immoderate closure to the families affected by Jones’ years of harassment.