The anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety said it will be the exclusive advertiser in The Onionās new venture as part of a multiyear agreement.
John Feinblatt, the groupās president, said in a statement that he hopes to āreach new audiences ready to hold the gun industry accountable for contributing to our nationās gun violence epidemic.ā
Since April, The Onion has been led by chief executive Ben Collins, who previously covered disinformation and conspiracy theories for NBC News, a beat that often meant covering Jones. Collins has introduced several changes meant to monetize the business, including subscriptions, organized live events, and bringing back physical copies of the paper and its television parody, the Onion News Network.
In June, Collins answered calls from followers online that The Onion purchase Infowars with
a meme ālooking into it.ā
Those interested in acquiring Jonesā media company had submitted their final offers to federal court-appointed trustee Christopher Murray, who was tasked with picking a best bid, but not necessarily the highest.
The identities of potential buyers were secret as they had to agree to nondisclosure agreements in order to receive bid materials.
The auction firms running the sale said that there are āno restrictions on the use of any acquired property in the bankruptcy order,ā and that the winner has the choice of whether to continue Infowarsā operations.
On his show this week, amid pleas for listeners to buy subscriptions and the nutritional supplements he sells, Jones painted a picture of his potential buyers, describing one group of anonymous bidders as friendly backers who would allow his show to operate as normal. Others, he said, were ābad guysā who would shut Infowars down.
While he said he would continue to broadcast via an alternative channel if ordered to shutter by a new buyer, Jones noted he would be hampered by the loss of his brand, website and equipment, among other necessities.
āAll you leftists celebrating the end of Alex Jones and Infowars, youāre fools,ā he said. āJust watch.ā
Up for grabs at the auction were Infowars production rights and materials, the Infowars store, domain names, production equipment and other assets ā including a Terradyne armored truck and a Winnebago motor home ā that can be purchased in their entirety or in parts, according to the firm, ThreeSixty Asset Advisors. Jones broadcasts from the Austin, Texas, area.
The auction is part of Murrayās ā
orderly wind-down processā under the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, which has overseen the latest phase of the case against Jones, stemming from the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.
In fitting form for the satirical website, The Onionās news release announcing the sale was written in the voice of a CEO of Global Tetrahedron, a fictional evil company created by Onion staff. Former tech executive Jeff Lawson took on the name Global Tetrahedron for his real company that acquired The Onion from G/O Media in April.
āThrough it all, InfoWars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of societyāvalues that resonate deeply with all of us at Global Tetrahedron,ā the release said.
Jones founded Infowars, which operates under Free Speech Systems, in 1999. The company itself held about $6 million in cash and $1.2 million in inventory, according to previous court filings from June.
The families in Texas and Connecticut have
sparred in court over the liquidation process, with concerns over how the money will be distributed. Still, they have said, Jonesā loss of his company brings some accountability for his past words.
At his trial in Texas in 2022, Jones generally blamed ācorporate mediaā for twisting his words and misportraying him, but didnāt specify how.
While Jones also testified that he believes Sandy Hook was ā100% real,ā he has used the ongoing litigation to galvanize his listeners as he faces the loss of Infowars
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