Bankruptcy judge rejects sale of Infowars from Alex Jones to The Onion

A federal judge has rejected the sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to the satirical website The Onion.

Tuesday night’s ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez comes after Jones claimed that a recent bankruptcy auction was plagued by illegal collusion.

The Onion was named the winning bidder last month against a company affiliated with Jones. Lopez’s decision means Jones can stay at Infowars in Austin, Texas. The Onion had planned to fire Jones and relaunch Infowars in January as a parody.

Lopez criticized the auction process as flawed and said the result “left a lot of money on the table” for victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

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A trustee who oversaw Infowars’ bankruptcy auction told a judge Tuesday that he chose The Onion’s bid for the conspiracy-ridden platform because it was much better than the only other bid he received, from a company affiliated with Alex Jones.

Administrator Christopher Murray testified during the second day of a hearing in which a judge is examining Murray’s decision to name the satirical news outlet’s bid as the winning bid after a November auction that Jones says involved fraud and collusion.

The Onion offered $1.75 million in cash and other incentives for Infowars’ assets in the auction that concluded Nov. 14. First United American Companies, which runs a website in Jones’ name that sells nutritional supplements, bid $3.5 million.

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Although The Onion’s cash offer was lower than First United American’s, it included a commitment by many of the Sandy Hook families to forgo $750,000 of the auction proceeds they were owed and give it to other creditors, providing the other creditors more money than they needed. would receive under First United American’s offer.

During a broadcast from his Austin studios early Tuesday, Jones said, “I can’t imagine the judge will certify this fraud.”

“I mean it’s amazing what they did and what they claimed,” he said.

The Infowars sale is part of Jones’ personal bankruptcy case, filed in late 2022 after he was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas brought by relatives of elementary school shooting victims. Sandy Hook.

Jones repeatedly called the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six educators a hoax staged by actors and aimed at increasing gun control. The parents and children of many of the victims testified in court that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats from his followers.

The Infowars host has since acknowledged that the Connecticut school shooting occurred. But Jones is appealing the $1.5 billion in sentences citing his right to free speech.

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Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion, said the company was “deeply disappointed” by the judge’s decision but “will continue to seek a resolution that helps the families of Sandy Hook receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured.”

“We will also continue to pursue a path toward purchasing InfoWars in the coming weeks. It is part of our broader mission to make the Internet better and more fun, regardless of the outcome of this case,” Collins said in a statement provided to FOX Business. . “We appreciate that the court has repeatedly recognized that The Onion acted in good faith, but we are disappointed that everyone was sent back to the drawing board without a winner and without a clear path forward for any bidder. And for all those so upset about this as “We are, please know that we will continue to look for moments of hope. “We are undeterred in our mission to make the world more fun.”

FOX Business has reached out to Infowars for a response.