The Onion says it will sidestep courts to launch Infowars and pay Sandy Hook families

While that avenue was temporarily blocked, The Onion found another: through a licensing deal with the official appointed by the Texas court to manage Jones’ assets. That deal would have allowed it to publish on the website, pay rent for the other properties, sell merchandise and begin paying the Sandy Hook families. But in April, a state appeals court halted that turnover, too. Lawyers for some of the Sandy Hook families who back The Onion’s bid have asked the Texas Supreme Court to overrule that hold.

Now The Onion says it isn’t waiting on the courts anymore. 

“Alex is holding Infowars.com hostage,” Collins said in a phone interview. “He’s trying to intentionally degrade the assets so these families can never sell them, and the courts have largely obliged. We’re tired of waiting around.”

“We are allowed, and even more, these families are entitled to this stuff,” Collins added. “Somebody’s got to do this, or else he’ll get away with it.”

Jones telegraphed his plans to defy the verdicts the moment they were issued. In 2022, as the judgments were read in court, Jones mocked them live on his show.

“Do these people actually believe they’re getting any money?” he asked at the time.

Jones left his Austin, Texas, headquarters, and the Infowars website went dark on May 1, ahead of the court manager’s planned handover to The Onion. He urged his audience to follow him to a new broadcast, the Alex Jones Network. Jones’ personal X account still has millions of followers, but the new site and channels draw a fraction of Infowars’ traffic, according to data from internet analytics firm Similarweb.

The Onion’s new Infowars programming will include a series of livestreams through the summer: “Emergency with Tim Heidecker,” hosted by the co-creator of Adult Swim’s “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!”; “The Jim Haggerty Show,” featuring a former mainstream news anchor turned red-pilled podcaster character; and a documentary-style film, “Birth of a Nation,” which shares a title with the 1915 film credited with reviving the Ku Klux Klan.

While raising funds for Sandy Hook families, The Onion hopes the Infowars push will attract subscribers and eventually help stand up a streaming service with advertisers.

It’s unclear what mechanism The Onion will use to pay the Sandy Hook families, since the court-appointed manager has been effectively stayed by Texas courts. But the families have endorsed the effort.

“We have worked for years to hold Alex Jones accountable and to dismantle his corrupt business,” said Chris Mattei, an attorney for some of the Sandy Hook families. “That has required grit and resolve, qualities that The Onion has in spades. We’re grateful for The Onion’s continued commitment to taking over the husk that is Infowars and turning it into something good.”