A federal judge has rejected the sale of Alex Jones’s InfoWars to satirical news outlet, The Onion.
This comes after Jones claimed that a recent bankruptcy auction was fraught with illegal collusion.
On 14 November, The Onion was named the winning bidder for the conspiracy theory platform over a company affiliated with Jones.
The Onion had planned to remove Jones from the platform and relaunch InfoWars as a parody in January, but U.S. bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez’s decision means Jones can stay.
After a two-day hearing in a Texas courtroom, Judge Lopez criticised the process as flawed and said the outcome “left a lot of money on the table for the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who Jones had to payout for claiming the massacre was a hoax.
Judge Lopex also cited problems with the auction process and said the country-appointed bankruptcy trustee who ran the auction made a “good-faith error” in quickly asking for offers instead of encouraging more back-and-forth bidding.
There were only two bidders for the conspiracy website, one being The Onion and the other a company affiliated with Alex Jones.
The Onion offered US$1.75 million (A$2.4 million) in cash and other incentives for InfoWars assets in the auction on 14 November and First American Companies, which is affiliated with Jones bid US$3.5 million.
Despite The Onion’s cash bid being lower, it also included a pledge by many of the Sandy Hook families to forgo US$750,000 of auction proceeds due to them and give it to other creditors.
In a statement posted to Bluesky, Ben Collins, the CEO of The Onion’s parent company Global Tetrahedron, said they will continue a path towards purchasing InfoWars in the coming weeks.
“We are deeply disappointed in today’s decision, but The Onion will continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured,” Collins said.
“It is part of our larger mission to make a better, funnier internet, regardless of the outcome of the case.
“We appreciate that the court repeatedly recognised The Onion acted in good faith, but are disappointed that everyone was sent back to the drawing board with no winner and no clear path forward for any bidder.”
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