The Onion’s Alex Jones Infowars Deal Draws Tim Heidecker’s Vision, Expert Doubt

Updated 4:15 p.m. ET, April 21: After publication, a spokesperson for Sandy Hook families attorney Chris Mattei shared a statement from Mattei calling Infowars’ “machinery of lies” a potential “force for social good” under the deal.

Satirical news outlet The Onion has reached a deal to take over Alex Jones’ Infowars, a move that could hand one of the internet’s most notorious conspiracy platforms to a publication best known for parody if a Texas judge approves the arrangement.

The Onion’s Infowars Deal Still Needs Court Approval

The deal marks the latest turn in the years-long legal fallout tied to Jones’ false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Families of the victims, who won nearly $1.3 billion in judgments against Jones for defamation, have backed efforts to strip him of the Infowars brand while continuing to seek payment. According to an NPR report, the new agreement would allow The Onion to move forward with plans to remake Infowars into a parody of itself, if the court signs off.

The licensing arrangement would last six months, with an option to renew for another six months, The Associated Press reported, while a court-appointed receiver continues working to sell the assets of Free Speech Systems, Infowars’ parent company. The Onion would pay $81,000 a month to cover rent, utilities and other operating costs tied to the Infowars studio. Onion CEO Ben Collins told AP the deal could take effect around April 30 if approved by Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin.

A spokesperson for Chris Mattei, a partner at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder and attorney for the Sandy Hook families who won a $1.4 billion verdict against Jones and Infowars in Connecticut, later shared a statement reiterating Mattei’s support for the deal.

“The Sandy Hook families took on Alex Jones to stop him from inflicting the same harm on others. For years, he used his corrupt business platform to torment and harass them for profit,” Mattei said in the statement. “When Infowars finally goes dark, the machinery of lies that Jones built will become a force for social good, thanks to the families’ courage and The Onion’s vision, persistence and stewardship.”

A separate Texas case ended in a nearly $50 million award. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Jones’ challenge to the Connecticut judgment last year.

The Onion had previously won an Infowars asset auction in bankruptcy court in November 2024, but that result was later vacated by a judge who found flaws in the sale process. The fight then shifted into the Texas state court, where a receiver was appointed to liquidate Free Speech Systems’ assets.

Tim Heidecker Says the Goal Is Bigger Than Parody

If the new deal is approved, Collins has said The Onion plans to remake Infowars as a parody platform. AP reported that comedian Tim Heidecker has already been hired to help run the operation, with Collins describing a plan to build out a wider comedy network around the site. He also said any profits from the new operation would go to the Sandy Hook families.

The Onion’s vision for Infowars appears to extend beyond simply mocking Alex Jones. Tim Heidecker, whom an Onion publicist identified to Military.com as the project’s creative director, framed it as an attempt to turn something toxic into something creatively useful.

I thought it was a really unusual chance to take something destructive and turn it into something creative

He said the goal is not just to parody Infowars, but to build a more curated, artist-friendly space for internet comedy. “There are a lot of talented people making great work with very little support,” Heidecker said in an exclusive statement to Military.com. “This is a chance to build a place for ambitious, specific, internet-native comedy and to make something genuinely new out of a very broken piece of media history.”

The tone of that plan is already visible. On a landing page set up around the proposed takeover, The Onion declares, “Our Miserable World At An Unbeatable Price,” then adds: “Finally. It took 17 months and hundreds of hours in courtrooms, but America’s Finest News Source has entered into an agreement to operate America’s Source Of Disinformation For Sovereign Citizens Who Reject The Idea Of Child Support. Big things are coming.” 

The page pitches Onion memberships alongside parody Infowars merchandise, suggesting the outlet wants readers to understand immediately that it is mocking both the brand and the commercial engine behind it.

The same page also features fake ads targeting the survivalist sales culture long associated with Jones’ operation. One especially sharp example reads, “The ultimate way to hide gold in just 24 hours,” above the much bigger punchline: “Turn your gold into piss.” Another button urges readers to “Liquidate your assets today.”

Expert Doubts Satire Will Curb Infowars’ Misinformation Legacy

The Onion and Heidecker's strategy may be funny, but not everyone is convinced it will weaken the ecosystem Jones built. Yotam Ophir, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo who studies media, misinformation and public opinion, told Military.com that he doubts satire alone can meaningfully reduce Infowars’ influence.

I understand the ironic and cynical move the satire website, The Onion, is going for, but I don’t believe it will be effective at reducing misinformation. Part of Jones’ rhetoric is that mainstream systems, from government to media, are unreliable and cannot be trusted. He and his followers will likely interpret the Onion’s takeover as yet another sign that the system is corrupted and silencing dissenting voices. Beyond possibly a brief amusement, I don’t see the benefits of the deal, and I can definitely see negative long-term consequences.

Satire can sometimes backfire when readers do not realize it is satire, Ophir noted. He pointed to past cases in which Onion stories were mistaken for real news, including a 2012 incident in which then-Rep. John Fleming, R-La., linked on Facebook to an Onion story about a fictional Planned Parenthood “Abortionplex” before deleting the post after it drew attention.

Regarding whether The Onion's vision will have a positive effect, Ophir was blunt. “I’m afraid not,” he told Military.com, later adding that “misinformation is more resilient than one might hope.”

Misinformation brands often survive even after major court judgments because their audiences, ideas and revenue models migrate elsewhere, Ophir argues. Jones has already said that even if he loses Infowars, he plans to continue broadcasting through his own accounts, new websites and radio affiliates.

If the judge approves the deal, The Onion may get the chance to turn Infowars into satire. Whether that does lasting damage to the misinformation ecosystem Jones built is far less certain.