The Onion, with the Support of Sandy Hook Families, Acquires Infowars and Announces Everytown for Gun Safety as Exclusive Advertiser for Launch, Along with Multi-Year Agreement
Purchase Comes with Full Support of Sandy Hook Families Involved in the Successful and Historic Litigation Against Alex Jones that Won a $1.4 billion Verdict
Everytown for Gun Safety Signs on as Exclusive Advertiser for Launch of New Platform with Multi-Year Agreement
Ends Infowars Decades of Hateful Disinformation, Replaces It with Noticeably Less Hateful Disinformation
CHICAGO – The Onion, America’s Finest News Source™, today announced it has acquired the assets of Infowars, with the support of Sandy Hook families who secured a $1.4 billion defamation verdict in Connecticut against Alex Jones, the founder of Infowars and parent company, Free Speech Systems, LLC. The Onion also announced its exclusive launch advertiser in this new venture will be Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country.
The Onion’s goal with the acquisition is to end Infowars’ relentless barrage of disinformation for the sake of selling supplements and replace it with The Onion’s relentless barrage of humor for good. “The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash,” said The Onion’s CEO Ben Collins. “Or Bitcoin. We will also accept Bitcoin.”
The Onion’s acquisition comes after the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee overseeing the Free Speech Systems bankruptcy proceedings selected the news outlet’s bid. That process was the direct result of a years-long effort by several Sandy Hook families to hold Alex Jones accountable for the immense pain he caused and from which he profited.
“From day one, these families have fought against all odds to bring true accountability to Alex Jones and his corrupt business. 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,” said Chris Mattei, attorney for the Connecticut plaintiffs and partner at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder. “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.” Everytown for Gun Safety will be the primary advocacy organization working with The Onion and has signed a multi-year advertising agreement for the new platform. During the relaunch period, Everytown will serve as the exclusive advertiser.
“It’s fitting that a platform once used to profit off of tragedy will be a tool of education, hence our multi-year advertising commitment to this new venture,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We’re proud to be a part of what comes next, not only in terms of staunching the flow of hurtful misinformation, but also for the potential this new venture has to help Everytown reach new audiences ready to hold the gun industry accountable for contributing to our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”
Alex Jones publicly claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting was a “hoax” staged by actors, leading to widespread harassment and emotional distress for the victims’ families. Several families successfully sued Jones for defamation and emotional damages, demonstrating that his false statements multiplied and perpetuated their suffering and endangered both their physical safety and emotional well-being.
Everytown will continue to raise awareness on InfoWars’ channels about gun violence prevention and present actual solutions to our nation’s gun violence crisis, including bipartisan, common-sense measures and public safety initiatives backed by Everytown. Ultimately, the vast majority of gun owners support common-sense gun laws and inherently reject the radical vision of the country peddled by fear-mongers like Alex Jones and the gun industry.
“The Onion has a long history of helping the American public navigate some of the most difficult moments in American life, from our historic issue after 9/11 to our groundbreaking reportage after every American mass shooting. In that tradition, we hope the Sandy Hook families will be able to marvel at the cosmic joke we will soon make of InfoWars.com,” Collins added.
The Onion has made an indelible mark on the public response to school shootings. Its iconic story “‘No Way To Prevent This’, Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens” has become shorthand for a nation that is a world leader in gun violence, which serves as the leading cause of death for children and teens. The piece has run 37 times, an example of The Onion’s unique ability to hold up a mirror to our nation’s inability to solve its gun crisis’
Following the acquisition, The Onion will begin work to immediately transition the current site and is expected to launch the new platform in January 2025.
