The Onion will continue to explore avenues to acquire Infowars after a federal bankruptcy judge rejected the company’s takeover bid late Tuesday.
The satirical news site’s bid for Alex Jones’ site was decided in November, but Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled Tuesday that the private bidding in the November auction lacked transparency. He said there was. This was reported by multiple media outlets. He also found that the private bidding process did not maximize value for Jones’ creditors, including the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.
Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, said the company “continues to seek a resolution.” The Onion was sold in conjunction with the Sandy Hook family for a total of $7 million, including $1.75 million in cash. The rest came from the Sandy Hook family, which agreed to put some of the money it could raise from a defamation lawsuit against Jones toward the bid, The New York Times reported.
“While we are extremely disappointed in today’s decision, The Onion will continue to seek solutions that help achieve a positive outcome for the horrors endured by the families of Sandy Hook. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to explore paths toward purchasing InfoWars. Regardless of the outcome of this lawsuit, creating a better, more interesting Internet is part of our larger mission.” said in a statement.
“While we are grateful that the court has repeatedly found that The Onion acted in good faith, we are disappointed that there was no winner and everyone was sent back to square one with no clear path forward for bidders. And for all of you who are as upset about this as we are, please know that we will continue to look for moments of hope. We will make a more interesting world. “We are undaunted by our mission,” he continued.
Mr. Jones falsely claimed that the shooting was a hoax and was forced to sell Infowars to repay the $1.5 billion in damages he had to pay to the Sandy Hook family.
The Onion was set to acquire Infowars after its auction bid was selected by the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings for Mr. Jones’ media company Free Speech Systems. .
The Onion’s purpose in acquiring the site was to “end Infowars’ relentless barrage of disinformation aimed at selling supplements and permanently replace it with The Onion’s relentless barrage of humor.” ”, the company said in a press release at the time.
Chris Mattei, the family’s attorney from Connecticut, said the family was also disappointed in the judge’s ruling.
“More than two years after a historic ruling in Connecticut, a bankruptcy court rejected the acquisition of Infowars, Inc., which was recommended by a court-appointed receiver in the best interest of creditors. We are disappointed that these families, who have already endured countless delays and obstacles, are as persistent as ever in holding Alex Jones and his corrupt companies accountable for the damage he has caused. We are determined,” Mattei said.
