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The Onion's attempt to take over Infowars, the far-right website created by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, has been blocked by a Texas bankruptcy judge.
The deal was rejected after a two-day hearing, where the court decided that the auction of Jones' media assets did not achieve the best offers for creditors.
Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion, said on social media Wednesday morning that he was “deeply disappointed” by the decision, but that the Chicago-based digital media group “will continue to explore a path toward purchasing Infowars in the coming weeks.” “.
He added that it was disappointing that the process had been sent back “to the drawing board with no winner, and no clear path forward for any bidder.”
Infowars was auctioned off To pay settlements to families of victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Jones owes the victims' families nearly $1.5 billion in damages following defamation rulings, after he called the massacre a hoax.
Jones was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2022 after the crisis Sandy Hook The families successfully sued the media host over his repeated false claims about the massacre in which 20 children and six teachers were killed.
The Onion's acquisition of Infowars was supported by some of the Connecticut families involved in the Sandy Hook shooting, which was part of the lawsuit against Jones that led to his bankruptcy.
The families agreed to waive a portion of the proposed amount to increase the overall value of The Onion's offer, but that waiver was not enough to convince a judge in Texas of the financial merits of the offer.
Last month, The Onion agreed to acquire Free Speech Systems, Infowars' parent company, which includes its website, clients, social media accounts, production equipment, studio in Austin, Texas, branding and video archive.
The judge also did not accept a competing offer from Jones's subsidiary, First United American Companies, and instead instructed the bankruptcy trustee to decide on next steps after further negotiations with creditors.
