Courtesy of The Associated Press.
Well, here's some left of center comedy news you likely didn't expect to hear today.
The Onion, the internet's leading satirical news site, has won a bankruptcy auction to acquire Infowars, the website founded and operated by Alex Jones.
Jones shared news of the announcement in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) this morning saying, “I just got word 15 minutes ago that my lawyers and folks met with the U.S. trustee over our bankruptcy this morning and they said they are shutting us down even without a court order this morning.”
He continues, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to be here until they come and turn the lights off.”
Infowars is being shut down now! pic.twitter.com/nb4loGvL12
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) November 14, 2024
What we know The Onion is planning to do with Infowars.
And according to an interview with The New York Times, Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion's parent company Global Tetrahedron, said the website is planning "to reintroduce Infowars in January as a parody of itself, mocking 'weird internet personalities' like Mr. Jones who traffic in misinformation and health supplements."
The Onion declined to disclose the price it paid for Infowars and its assets, including its production studio and diet supplement business.
Collins then wrote In a post on the Bluesky social media service that part of the reason The Onion bought Infowars is “because people on Bluesky told us it would be funny to buy InfoWars. And those people were right. This is the funniest thing that has ever happened.”
As part of this acquisition, The Onion is partnering with Everytown, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending gun violence founded in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, for a multiyear ad deal on the satirical iteration of Infowars. The site as most readers know has become recognized for its repeatedly posted & viral headline about gun violence: "No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens."
“Ultimately, the vast majority of gun owners support common-sense gun laws and inherently reject the radical vision of the country peddled by fear-mongers like Alex Jones and the gun industry,” Collins said in a statement. “The Onion has a long history of helping the American public navigate some of the most difficult moments in American life, from our historic issue after 9/11 to our groundbreaking reportage after every American mass shooting. In that tradition, we hope the Sandy Hook families will be able to marvel at the cosmic joke we will soon make of InfoWars.com.”
