US judge weighs fate of the Onion's buyout of Infowars

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

December 9, 2024 6:25 AM EST Updated an hour ago


Dec 9 (Reuters) - Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is set to urge a U.S. bankruptcy judge to block the sale of his Infowars website to the Onion news parody site at a Monday court hearing in Houston. The Onion was named the winning bidder for Infowars in a November bankruptcy auction, but Jones and a company affiliated with his dietary supplements sales have argued that the sale process was plagued by fraud and collusion.

Jones declared bankruptcy in 2022 and was forced to liquidate his assets to pay $1.4 billion in legal judgments to the families of 20 students and six staff members who were fatally shot in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Courts in Connecticut and Texas have ruled that Jones defamed the families by making repeated false claims that the mass shooting was staged as part of a government plot to take guns away from Americans.

The Onion has said it plans to re-launch Infowars in 2025 as a parody site filled with "noticeably less hateful disinformation" than before.

The sale must be approved in court before it is final. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez, who is overseeing Jones' bankruptcy, at a previous court hearing voiced concerns about the auction's transparency. The judge has asked the parties for evidence that he will consider at Monday's meeting.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-weighs-fate-onions-buyout-infowars-2024-12-09/

[wolfie001]

1. Not hopeful of this outcome

Blue is red, down is up, wrong is right, evil is good, lying is truth. These are today's credos thanks to the fat orange felon. Thanks, stupid ignorant 49% of the electorate.

[love_katz]

2. The only thing plagued with fraud and collusion was InfoWars itself.

May Jones, who is obscenely disgusting, be defeated.

[quakerboy]

3. if they wanted it, they should have bid more

That's kinda how auctions are supposed to work, no?

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. It's my understanding that the familes

of the slain children agreed to a lower settlement because they liked the idea of The Onion taking over. Although the settlement money is nice, they really don't want Infowars to be bought by Fox News or some other entity that's going to spread misinformation.

[quakerboy]

5. same diff

Its the same thing in the end. If someone helps up the value of a bid, the bid is worth more. as long as the bid of higher total value towards settlement of the judgement is picked, then if someone else wanted it.. they should have bid higher