Bankruptcy judge rejects the Onion's bid for Infowars

Federal bankruptcy judge Christopher M. Lopez rejected the Onion‘s bid to buy Infowars, the website of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, citing that the auction of the website and the bid lacked transparency and created an uneven playing field.

Infowars founder Alex Jones is questioned by plaintiff attorney Chris Mattei during testimony at the Sandy Hook defamation damages trial at Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury, Connecticut, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool)

The Onion, a Chicago-based satirical publication, won the auction for the website while backed by the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. For years, Jones claimed that the 2012 school shooting was fake and the victims’ families were just actors convincing the world of the tragedy.