Infowars’ Attempt to Sell to Parody Site The Onion Blocked by Bankruptcy Judge in the US

A U.S. judge has stopped the parody news site The Onion from buying Alex Jones’ Infowars website, ruling that the bankruptcy auction did not result in the best possible bids. The judge rejected Jones’ claims of collusion but acknowledged that the auction process could have been handled better. The judge said that neither of the two offers for Infowars was enough given the scope of Jones’ debts and instructed the trustee to resolve disputes between creditors before attempting to sell Infowars again. The Onion was named the winning bidder in a November auction, but Jones and a company affiliated with him argued that the sale process was tainted. Jones declared bankruptcy in 2022 to pay legal judgments to the families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting, with courts ruling that he defamed them by spreading false claims. The Onion plans to re-launch Infowars in 2025 as a parody site with less disinformation. Jones’ attorney claimed that The Onion’s bid was boosted with “smoke and mirrors” calculations. The Sandy Hook families, who are Jones’ largest creditors, agreed to forgo some repayment from the sale to benefit other creditors. The court-appointed trustee testified that the auction was fair, and the losing bidder only complained after learning their bid was not chosen.

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