Satirical magazine buys website from US conspiracy theorist Jones

The American satirical website “The Onion” scores a coup by purchasing the online portal “Infowars” from the right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. It’s also late satisfaction for families who lost children in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Jones had claimed for years that the attack was staged using actors.

The families went to court and won billions of dollars in damages. This led to Jones’ bankruptcy and the auction of Infowars. The surviving families supported the takeover.

“Infowars” was Jones’ central source of money. Among other things, he sold dubious nutritional supplements there. He also spread various conspiracy theories via the portal and used political opinion.

Jones filed for bankruptcy

A 20-year-old shot 20 school children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Jones was ordered to pay a total of around $1.5 billion (approximately €1.4 billion) in damages for his false claims. Jones filed for bankruptcy in 2022.

“The Onion” has a long tradition as a satirical publication and has been owned by tech entrepreneur Jeff Lawson since this spring. “Infowars” should be relaunched in January as a parody of the previous portal, the head of “Onion” parent company Global Tetrahedron told the “New York Times”. They will then make fun of people like Jones.

However, the sale of vitamins and dietary supplements will be stopped immediately – and the stocks will be boiled down into a single multivitamin bar, which may ensure immortality, according to the satirical website.