The Onion’s bid to take over Infowars, the media platform built by Alex Jones and known for conspiracy theories, hit another procedural snag Thursday as a Texas appeals court blocked a proposed transfer of assets, according to The Associated Press. The companies’ plan—described as a licensing arrangement that would allow The Onion to use Infowars’ intellectual property while a Texas receiver works toward liquidation—was effectively put on hold after the emergency pause, the report said.
In Austin, Texas, a hearing had been scheduled to determine whether to approve The Onion’s deal with the receiver overseeing Infowars’ prospects. Instead, the Thursday proceeding became a status conference after the Texas Third Court of Appeals on Wednesday approved an emergency motion filed by Jones’ lawyers to temporarily block the transfer of any Infowars assets, the AP reported. The judge then set a new hearing for May 28.
The AP reported that the Sandy Hook families’ lawyers had asked the Texas Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court’s ruling, but that high court did not issue a decision before Thursday’s hearing. The report also said Infowars’ broader legal context remains tied to defamation judgments connected to the Sandy Hook case, in which Jones owes more than $1 billion to relatives of victims after calling the Connecticut massacre a hoax.
The AP described the proposed licensing deal as giving The Onion temporary authority to use Infowars’ trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property while the receiver pursues liquidation. The Onion, the report said, has already been selling Infowars merchandise through its own website, including T-shirts and tote bags featuring an Infowars logo in which the “o” is replaced by its onion trademark image. The planned concept, as described by the AP, is to convert the Infowars platforms into comedy sites that would include spoofing Jones, conspiracy theories and right-wing talking points, with revenue intended to go to Sandy Hook victims’ relatives.
Jones, for his part, declared victory following the appellate court ruling and argued that the transfer plan was illegal, the AP reported. The report said Jones cited pending appeals and his ongoing personal bankruptcy case in videos posted on his social media sites. Ben Collins, The Onion’s CEO, told viewers in a social media post ahead of Thursday’s hearing that the legal pause was meant to delay the deal with the receiver and expected more court “traps” to prevent payment to the Sandy Hook families’ relatives.
After the Thursday hearing, Mark Bankston, a lawyer for some of the Sandy Hook victims’ relatives, accused Jones of delaying the liquidation of Infowars repeatedly through court filings, according to the AP. Bankston said that, as far as the world is concerned, Infowars was already “dead,” and he characterized Jones’ efforts as trying to keep what he called a “bloated corpse” alive. The Associated Press report also noted the broader history of The Onion’s attempts: in November 2024, it was named the winner of a bankruptcy court auction of assets of Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, but a federal judge later overturned the auction results, citing problems with process and The Onion’s bid.
The legal fight, however, continues along multiple tracks. The AP reported that Jones said on his show that he had a new studio nearing completion and described creating a new phone app and additional websites, including one that sells dietary supplements, clothing and other merchandise he markets on his program. The report also said his personal X account, where he posts videos of his shows and has about 4.5 million followers, was not affected by the court cases. Late Thursday, the report said Jones livestreamed on X as he described a countdown to what he said would be his “final moments” in the building, saying they were turning off the power at midnight.