Eight years after Sandy Hook families first sued Alex Jones for claiming the murder of their children was a hoax, The Onion has found a back door into his conspiracy empire. It involves a lease agreement, a fictional corporate mascot, and a comedian from “Tim & Eric.”

The satirical news site will pay $81,000 a month to license the Infowars.com domain and brand from a court-appointed Texas state receiver, after a federal bankruptcy judge blocked its outright purchase in 2024. The deal, pending an April 30 hearing before Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Travis County, would transform the site into a self-parodying comedy network.

Comedian Tim Heidecker, named creative director, told The New York Times the project would parody Jones’s “whole modus operandi.” The Onion posted a mock statement from the fictional CEO of its parent company, Global Tetrahedron — one “Bryce P. Tetraeder” — declaring it would “democratize psychological torture, welcoming brutal and sadistic ideas from everyone, even the very stupidest among us.”

Jones, who owes more than $1.3 billion in defamation damages and has not paid a cent, called it fraudulent on X. He plans to appeal and continue broadcasting under a new name regardless.

The workaround emerged after the bankruptcy court clarified that Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, was not itself in bankruptcy — so its assets fell to a state receiver, who determined licensing was “in the best interest of the receivership estate.”

The Onion has also signed a separate agreement to purchase Infowars’ full assets once the judicial stay expires, according to CNN. CEO Ben Collins said proceeds — including merchandise sales — would go to the families.

“It’s been eight years and three days since the Sandy Hook families initially filed this lawsuit, and they have not received a f**king penny,” Collins told CNN. “So, we’re excited to get them immediate pennies with some merch sales — but also longer-term pennies once we do wind up eventually straight up buying this thing.”

Sources