Judge rejects bankruptcy sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion
On Tuesday night, a federal judge rejected the Conspiracy platform Infowars for sale The Onion satirizes news media after Alex Jones claims a recent incident Bankruptcy The auction was rife with illegal collusion.
On November 14, The Onion won a bid from a company owned by Jones. The decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez means Jones can stay at Infowars in Austin, Texas. The Onion originally planned to kick Jones out and relaunch “Infowars” as a parody in January.
At the end of a lengthy two-day hearing in a Texas court, Lopez criticized the auction process for being flawed and said the result “left a lot of money on the table.” for the victim’s family The 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
“You have to do whatever you can to get them everything,” Lopez said.
The Onion offered $1.75 million in cash and other incentives for Infowars’ assets at the auction. First United American Companies, which operates a website selling nutritional supplements in Jones’ name, offered $3.5 million.
Lopez cited problems with the auction process but no wrongdoing. He said he did not want to hold another auction and left it to the trustee overseeing the sale to decide next steps.
Trustee Christopher Murray defended The Onion’s bid during the hearing.
“There were only two people bidding, and … one of them was better than the other,” Murray testified, referring to The Onion. When asked how much better things were, he said “much better.”
While The Onion’s cash offer was lower than First United’s offer, it also included a promise from many of the Sandy Hook families to give up their share of the $750,000 in auction proceeds and give it to other creditors , thereby providing other creditors with more money than First United American. They will be awarded based on a bid from First American United.
Jones did not attend the proceedings, instead broadcasting them from his studio in Austin.
“I can’t imagine a judge would prove this fraud,” Jones said on Tuesday’s show. “I mean, it’s head-spinning what they’re doing and what they’re claiming.”
The trustees and The Onion have denied Jones and the company’s allegations, accusing them of sour grapes.
CBS News has reached out to The Onion and Jones’ representatives for comment on the ruling.
Infowars sale is part of Jones personal bankruptcy casewhich he will submit at the end of 2022 after he was ordered To pay nearly $1.5 billion in defamation lawsuits filed in Connecticut and Texas by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Jones has repeatedly called the shootings, which killed 20 children and six educators, a hoax staged by actors to enforce gun control. Many of the victims’ parents and children testified in court that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracy and threats from his followers.
Jones has since admitted to the Connecticut school shooting.
Most of the proceeds from the sale of Infowars, as well as many of Jones’ personal assets, will go to the Sandy Hook family. Part of the proceeds will go to Jones’ other creditors.
Murray testified that he was not partial to any one bidder and had no bias.
He also revealed that First American recently submitted a revised bid, but he said it was unacceptable because of objections from the Sandy Hook family involved in the Connecticut lawsuit.
The Onion valued the Sandy Hook family’s bid at $7 million, because that amount equaled the purchase price of providing the same amount of money to other creditors.
In a court filing last month, Murray’s attorneys called First United America’s request to disqualify The Onion’s bid for The Onion “an improper attempt by a frustrated bidder to influence an otherwise fair and open election process.” try”.
Murray’s attorneys questioned him Tuesday afternoon, then Jones’ attorney Ben Brooks cross-examined him into the evening.
Brooks noted that the Sandy Hook lawsuit verdict could be overturned on pending appeals, and had Murray acknowledge that if that happened, the Sandy Hook family’s takeover bid for Onions could fail. That’s because the percentage of auction proceeds they’re entitled to could drop dramatically, and they won’t be able to get $750,000 from the auction to give to other creditors.
Brooks also asked Murray about last-minute revisions to the Onion sale proposal, to which Murray responded that the revisions were the result of differing views on the numbers that had been settled.
Auctioneer Jeff Tanenbaum defended the bid and its selection Monday.
The sale includes all equipment and other assets of the Austin-based Infowars studio, as well as rights to its social media accounts, website, video archives and product trademarks. Jones uses the studio to broadcast his far-right, conspiracy theory-laden shows on accounts on the Infowars website, social platform X and radio stations. Many of Jones’ personal assets were also sold.
Jones has set up another studio, website and social media accounts in case The Onion gets approval to buy Infowars and kick him out. Jones said he could continue to use the Infowars platform if the auction winner was friendly to him.
Jones is appealing the $1.5 billion verdict, citing his right to free speech.
After being named the winning bidder last month, Onion CEO Bell Collins briefly described its Infowars plans in a statement to social media.
“We plan to make this a really fun, really silly website. We’re retaining the services of some Onion and Clickhole Hall of Fame members to make that happen. I can’t wait to show you what we’ve created,” he wrote road. .
The Onion said its “exclusive publishing advertiser” will be the gun violence prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
in irony article The CEO of The Onion parent company Global Tetrahedron posted to The Onion, “The decision to acquire InfoWars was an easy one for the Global Tetrahedron executive board.”
“InfoWars was founded in 1999 in the wake of the Satanic ‘Scare’ and has grown steadily since then, becoming a valuable tool for brainwashing and controlling the masses,” writes Bryce P. Tetraeder, CEO of Fake Global Tetraeder road. “No price is too high for such a malleable cornucopia of assets and ideas.”
