The Onion seeks to turn Alex Jones’ InfoWars into a parody of itself

The Onion is seeking to take temporary control of Alex Jones’ Infowars and transform it into what its executives describe as a parody version of the conspiracy platform itself, under a new court-backed proposal tied to the broadcaster’s Sandy Hook defamation liabilities.

The plan, submitted in Texas state court, would give Global Tetrahedron, the parent company of The Onion, a six-month lease over Infowars’ intellectual property and operations at $81,000 per month, with an option to extend the arrangement for another six months. The proposal has backing from the court-appointed receiver and lawyers for the Sandy Hook families, but it still requires final judicial approval.

The Onion wants to repurpose the Infowars website and social media accounts for satirical content, while Ben Collins, the outlet’s chief executive, said the goal is to build it into a broader comedy platform. Comedian Tim Heidecker is expected to serve as creative director if the deal goes ahead.

Jones has pushed back on the plan, accusing the Onion of trying to “misrepresent” Infowars and confuse viewers by presenting itself as the real outlet under the guise of parody. He argued that parody did not entitle anyone to take over another platform’s identity, said his team had “already checked with lawyers,” and claimed he was already pursuing legal action against what he described as politically aligned law firms.

Jones insisted that even if he lost control of Infowars’ current site or studio, he and his team would continue broadcasting elsewhere through what he described as an expanded “Alex Jones Network” and new websites already being prepared.