Summary
Alex Jones has sued Sandy Hook families and The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, alleging a conspiracy in their joint $1.75M bid to acquire Infowars during a bankruptcy auction.
Jones claims their bid unfairly appeared more valuable due to the families waiving portions of their payout, benefiting other defamation victims.
The bankruptcy trustee dismissed the allegations as baseless. Sandy Hook families vowed to hold Jones accountable, while the auction process faces judicial scrutiny over transparency.
A hearing is scheduled for November 25. Jones owes over $1B in defamation damages.
An auction doesn’t necessarily need to go with the highest bidder. Things can be sold to whoever the beneficiary of the sale decides. The families of Sandy Hook are taking less money than they would have otherwise by taking the Onion’s bid and they are accepting of that fact that they will get less money as a result. The other outcome is Alex Jones buying his company back or some other company that may use the platform for more continued disinformation. The Onion is the only business that can give confidence that their platforms will continue to push Satire rather than spewing hatred into the world.