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As the battle between satirical website The Onion and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars platform continues, social media users have expressed their joy at the former’s parody of the latter, which sees comedian Tim Heidecker drink “the blood of the forsaken” and address the camera in an increasingly grumbly voice.
In a video shared to X/Twitter on Wednesday, Jones confirmed that InfoWars has to shut down as a court-appointed state receiver is “not paying the bills, like the rent or the internet, the satellite”.
Indeed, InfoWars.com displays text which simply says ‘off air’ when you visit it on a web browser.
All of this stems from InfoWars facing liquidation as a result of more than $1 billion owed by Jones from judgments in defamation lawsuits, which surround the relatives of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting which took place in Connecticut in 2012.
The Associated Press reports that Jones bankruptcy case “included a 2024 auction to liquidate Infowars’ assets to help pay off the judgments, and The Onion was named the winning bidder”, except the bankruptcy judge threw out that plan “citing problems with The Onion’s bid and the bidding process”.
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
A new proposal put forward by The Onion was a licensing deal to temporarily use InfoWars’ trademarks, which was set to be ruled upon by a state judge in Austin on Thursday, except an emergency motion from Jones’ lawyers blocked the transfer of assets, with a hearing now set for May 28.
Several outlets now report that The Onion’s plans for a takeover of InfoWars is now in “legal limbo”.
Taking to BlueSky on Wednesday, The Onion’s boss Ben Collins wrote: “This newly insane, unprecedented legal stalling does nothing but delay our deal with the receiver to take control of InfoWars.
“We now expect new traps in Alex Jones’ amoral war to deny paying the Sandy Hook families, but we’re freshly surprised by the U.S. legal system’s appetite to put up with it.”
Despite this, The Onion has still opted to parody and ridicule Jones’ platform with the help of Heidecker, releasing an “emergency statement” to social media on Friday which has been praised by fellow users:
Podcaster Brian Krassenstein commented: “I have a feeling Alex Jones won’t like it”:
With another account expressing a similar statement, writing that the parody is “going to p*** [Jones] off in ways we’ve never seen”:
And one user said Heidecker has “perfected his Alex Jones”:
As well as the video from Heidecker, a satirical InfoWars website from The Onion team can be found at theonion.info.
Incredible scenes.
Why not read…?
- Alex Jones mocked as he claims Trump is ‘launching’ a fourth World War
- Alex Jones mocked as he cries over Sandy Hook legal bill
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