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A deal for satirical news site The Onion to take over far right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones’ InfoWars has been halted after a Texas appeals court decision Wednesday, April 29th.
The Texas Third Court of Appeals stopped the deal, which would have allowed The Onion to license InfoWars for a parody, after Jones’ legal team made an emergency request.
The Onion asked the Texas Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court decision.
A Texas trial court judge appeared set to finalize the licensing deal, but the appeals court’s last-minute order took the control of InfoWars assets away from a receiver, a legally appointed person who was leveraging Jones’ assets to pay back his creditor following his bankruptcy.
Without control of the assets, the receiver could no longer cement the licensing deal with The Onion.
InfoWars appears to be shutting down nonetheless, with Jones saying in a video that the receiver was no longer paying the bills at his studio, and they will have to leave by Thursday, April 30th.
Families of Sandy Hook victims sued Jones after he continually claimed the 2012 mass shooting of school children was a hoax, which it was not. They won, and Jones was ordered to pay them approximately $1.4 billion. Jones declared bankruptcy and hasn’t paid any of the judgment to the families.
The Onion stepped in, saying it was going to take over InfoWars and give proceeds from a parody to the families. The satirical site tried to buy InfoWars from a bankruptcy auction in 2024, but that sale was negated by a court. In April, The Onion announced it was again taking over InfoWars, this time through a licensing agreement in which The Onion would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to control the InfoWars brand for six months, with the possibility of renewing the deal.
After the appeals court ruling, lawyers for the Sandy Hook families said they are pressing on and “look forward to The Onion’s ultimate takeover of Jones’s corrupt business,” NPR reported.
Jones’ “desperate legal maneuvering can do nothing to stop the inevitable closure of InfoWars, and we call on the Texas courts to recognize that the families, whose final judgments have been blessed by the United States Supreme Court, are entitled to a speedy and just resolution,” attorney Chris Mattei said.
Jones called the ruling “a massive victory” in a video posted to X, adding The Onion’s claims of ownership over InfoWars are a “giant hoax.
“For the second time in a year and a half, The Onion has declared they own this place, and they run it, and they don’t.”
The trial court judge was obviously going to try to hand InfoWars over to The Onion, Jones said. “Despite the fact that it was still on appeal,” calling this “a total violation of my rights.”
The appeals court “put a stay on the whole thing and want full hearings and an investigation,” Jones said.
Ben Collins, The Onion’s CEO, said the latest legal turn was “insane, unprecedented legal stalling” in a Bluesky post and “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,” Collins said.
For The 2nd Time, A Major Court Has Blocked The Onion’s Attempt To Fraudulently Take Over Infowars And “Wear It’s Skin”
We Give Thanks To God and Infowars' Supporters For Standing Against These Pathetic Weasels
“Victory or Death”
– Alex Jones
Please… https://t.co/rk8srcHEpp pic.twitter.com/XpKsOL0hgU
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) April 30, 2026
English (US) · 