The CEO of The Onion revealed he bought Alex Jones’ Infowars as a joke and to stop the spread of disinformation from the site.
‘We thought it’d be the funniest joke of all time, basically,’ Ben Collins told Good Morning America.
‘Infowars is a clearing house for lies and nonsense in a bad way. The garbage they put out over the last two decades has really hurt a lot of people. They’ve targeted the families of the Sandy Hook victims, that led to the defamation case that allowed for auction.’
Collins also acknowledged that his own publication is satirical and prints fake news, but ‘we do lies and garbage in a different way.’
‘We have a lot more fun with it than they do,’ he said on the morning show. ‘We’re very excited to take it over and create a new, better path for this website.’
Collins, who previously worked as a disinformation reporter, said his publication ‘won the bid’ and that they ‘own Infowars,’
The change in ownership came after a judge temporarily paused their winning bid over Jones’ allegations the bidding was ‘rigged’ and it was a ‘fake auction.’
Collins went on to slam Jones, saying: ‘You can present as many facts as you want to Alex Jones himself, and he’s just not going to listen.’
Ben Collins (right, with Everytown’s John Feinblatt) revealed he bought Alex Jones’ Infowars as a joke and to stop the spread of disinformation from the site. ‘We thought it’d be the funniest joke of all time, basically,’ he said
Collins went on to slam Jones, saying: ‘You can present as many facts as you want to Alex Jones himself and he’s just not going to listen’
Going forward, he wants to expose ‘the wires underneath’ Jones’ Infowars through humor to hopefully ‘make some real change’ and ‘rip [away] the façade.’
However, when George Stephanopoulos asked ‘if there is any real way to stop him,’ Collins simply replied: ‘You can try. It’s not worth it, giving up, in my opinion… There’s some hope in this.’
John Feinblatt, the president for Everytown for Gun Safety who partnered with The Onion to buy Infowars, called the acquisition ‘karmic justice.’
Feinblatt said his organization would be advertising on Infowars and said it was justice to see a gun safety ad after ‘all that disinformation’ and after ‘calling Sandy Hook a hoax.’
Infowars will be relaunched in January as a new parody of itself under The Onion umbrella, as reported by The New York Times.
The Onion has declined to disclose how much it paid for Infowars. The purchase includes the Infowars’ studio and a diet supplement business.
The satirical news publication said the bid was sanctioned by the families of Sandy Hook Elementary victims who won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Jones in 2022.
But Judge Christopher M. Lopez announced during a status conference in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that the meeting would be held to discuss whether the people running the auction ran ‘a fair and full process.’
The auction stemmed from Jones’ personal bankruptcy case , which he filed in late 2022 after the families won lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas over his claims that the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 children and six adults was a hoax (pictured: Sandy Hook)
‘I, personally, don’t care who wins the auction, I care about process and transparency,’ the judge said, adding that ‘nobody should feel comfortable’ about what happened. No date has been set for the hearing.
Jones has raged against that very process since the winning bid on behalf of the satirical news site was announced Thursday.
In two videos posted later that evening, a furious Jones claimed that the sale is not yet official.
‘[My lawyers] had a total consensus: They’ve never seen anything like it. This was a private, secret sale… basically illegal, this is bankruptcy crime on its face disguised as an auction that wasn’t an auction.’
‘The people didn’t even pay real money, they paid some weird FIAT thing that wasn’t agreed to by the judge’s order and then they had the corporate media say that The Onion bought Infowars.’
He then claims the judge told the trustee that he didn’t give the trustee the authority to do that and that it ‘wasn’t an auction.’
Jones says that the people behind The Onion ‘didn’t do anything’ and called it ‘unprecedented,’ blaming it on his frequent targets at the ‘Deep State.’
‘It’s crazy. Nobody sees how the federal judge, who’s known for being straight-laced, cannot end this fake sale, where he basically said it didn’t happen and bare minimum, there’ll be a new, open, public auction.’
He then made a promise: ‘Everybody thinking Infowars was shut down, you’re in for a rude awakening.’
Collins said his publication ‘won the bid’ and that they ‘own Infowars,’ despite the fact that earlier this week, Judge Christopher M. Lopez (pictured) paused their winning bid over Jones’ allegations the bidding was ‘rigged’ and it was a ‘fake auction’
The auction stemmed from Jones’ personal bankruptcy case, which he filed in late 2022 after the families won lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas over his claims that the school shooting that killed 20 children and six adults was a hoax.
The Onion has a long history of parodying Jones and Infowars.
‘From day one, these families have fought against all odds to bring true accountability to Alex Jones and his corrupt business,’ said Chris Mattei, attorney for the Connecticut plaintiffs.
‘Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain and fear at scale. After surviving unimaginable loss with courage and integrity, they rejected Jones’ hollow offers for allegedly more money if they would only let him stay on the air because doing so would have put other families in harm’s way,’
‘They are heroes, and it has been an honor and privilege to be their advocate throughout this fight. By divesting Jones of Infowars’ assets, the families and the team at The Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones’ ability to do more harm.’
