HOUSTON, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- A federal judge on late Tuesday night rejected satirical news outlet The Onion's bid to buy Infowars, run by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, ruling that the auction process was unfair.

At least for now, The Onion can't take over Infowars and shift its content from anti-government conspiracy theories to satirical humor as it is planning, local media reported.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez ruled that The Onion's parent company, Global Tetrahedron, had not submitted the best bid and was wrongly named the winner of an auction last month by a court-appointed trustee.

"I don't think it's enough money," Lopez said in his ruling at a Houston court after a two-day hearing. "I'm going to not approve the sale."

The Onion was "deeply disappointed" but would "continue to seek a path towards purchasing Infowars in the coming weeks," Onion CEO Ben Collins said in a statement on X.

The Onion offered 1.75 million U.S. dollars in cash and other incentives for Infowars' assets in the auction.

The auction sale of Infowars is part of Jones' personal bankruptcy case after he was ordered to pay nearly 1.5 billion dollars in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas filed by victims' families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which 20 children and six school staff were killed.

Jones was held liable for damages caused by his repeatedly baseless false claims that the deadliest shooting at an elementary school in U.S. history was a hoax which aimed at increasing gun control. He also called the bereaved "crisis actors." Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)