The Onion Launches a Parody of Alex Jones’ Infowars Before Even Taking It Over, Donating $100,000 to Sandy Hook Families
The Onion isn’t waiting for the legal paperwork to go through. More than a year after first attempting to buy Alex Jones’ Infowars out of bankruptcy, the satirical news site will launch a full-blown parody of the conspiracy platform under its own banner on Thursday — and it’s already putting money where its satire is.
The Onion plans to donate the first $100,000 from sales of parody merchandise to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims. That’s a direct jab at Jones, who has still not paid a cent of the more than $1 billion in defamation judgments ordered by courts in Connecticut and Texas after he repeatedly called the 2012 massacre a hoax. The families have endured years of harassment from Jones’ followers, who accused them of being “crisis actors” and even sent death threats.
“Don’t give comedy writers a grudge for 18 months,” said Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion, which is still locked in a court battle to take control of Infowars’ remaining assets.
The parody, which will live on The Onion’s own site, mines the same aggressive tone Jones used to blend conspiracy theories, dubious health claims, and survival-gear sales into a lucrative media machine. At its peak, Infowars drew 10 million monthly visitors and generated more than $50 million in annual revenue. But the $1.4 billion in defamation judgments forced Jones into bankruptcy, fracturing the empire he built.
“All he’s been left with is an iPhone and a fancy microphone,” said Chris Mattei, an attorney representing nine of the Sandy Hook families.
Jones has since moved his show to a different website. He did not respond to a request for comment.
The families have long known they could not stop Jones from speaking, but they see The Onion’s takeover as a way to ensure he never profits from his platform again. “Every dime Alex Jones makes from here until the end of eternity is going to be claimed by the families,” Mattei said.
The Onion’s version of Infowars will feature a series of shows and content that spoof Jones’ signature style — a chaotic mix of half-truths, outrage-bait, and survivalist hucksterism. Collins teased some of what’s coming: a section selling a penis-flattening device, a fake “pro oxygen” supplement pill whose host claims can replace breathing, and an extended debate on the exact number of Bozo the Clowns.
“It’s old-fashioned Infowars — using the tricks that they use to get people addicted to outrage and, I would say, addicted to anticipation,” Collins said.
The Onion also plans to pursue control of the Austin, Texas, studio where Infowars once broadcast. Some Sandy Hook families are already imagining what they’ll do with it. Robbie Parker, whose daughter died at Sandy Hook, plans to read his book about confronting Jones while dealing with grief — inside the very studio where Jones once sat.
While the families initially wanted Infowars shut down forever, many now see the parody as an unexpectedly resonant form of justice. “The idea that it could be turned to some social good. I think it’s even better,” Mattei said. “So, yeah, I think the families are both pleased and amused with what they’ve been able to achieve here.”