3 ms·

It was barely funny when I read the headline a few years ago. Really weird story, I guess I just don't understand the humor at all. I'd rather stop hearing abou

by pton_xd 6mo ago

It was barely funny when I read the headline a few years ago. Really weird story, I guess I just don't understand the humor at all. I'd rather stop hearing about InfoWars entirely.

ocdtrekkie 6mo ago
Bear in mind buying it to ruin it is a very real public service. Alex Jones was hoping a conservative ally would buy it and then just continue to let him do what he wants. Jokes aside, The Onion is basically spending a giant pile of money to burn the website down.
- busterarm 6mo ago
  I remember when The KLF burned a million quid. They were being internally consistent. It was artistically relevant. Most people thought they were insane. Bill Drummond wrote about how it strained his relationship with his kids. You can tell that he regrets it. Personally I think a million bucks to lease a domain name for a year is a really terrible business decision. You might be able to argue that it's going to victims but you could almost certainly just park that money into an interest-bearing account and do better for those victims. But it's also been obvious from the beginning (starting with Jones' own comments) that nobody really gives a shit about these families and they're just props in other peoples' theater show.
  - quesera 6mo ago
    If benefitting the victims is a goal, then clearly sending them money now is more valuable than sending them interest-borne money later. If the victims don't benefit from the money now, they can bear their own interest. Time-value, etc.
  - ocdtrekkie 6mo ago
    I get the impression that beyond the money from the sale, the victims would very much like Alex Jones control of InfoWars to end. This accomplishes both of those things. I don't generally find The Onion that funny, and probably will never visit the new InfoWars, but I'm eternally grateful that they were willing to step in and do this. Because someone had to. A "good business decision" is to let Alex run his show if you buy the brand, but that's still a win for him. Not only would another owner likely allow Alex Jones to continue to operate, but The Onion can truly salt the earth around Alex Jones' business. If they own the InfoWars trademarks... if they own The Alex Jones Show as a trademark? They can potentially shut down Alex Jones' future works if they violate InfoWars' trademarks and intellectual property. They can sue him if he says something defamatory about the new InfoWars. One of the perks here is that The Onion is well-versed in free speech rights, intellectual property rights, and trademark law. They already have lawyers good at this stuff. The Onion can be a truly significant thorn in Jones' side, the way most other outcomes for this could not. I'm guessing the new site won't be that funny, but thankfully I don't really care about the "art".
  - BryantD 6mo ago
    The cost seems really high. On the other hand I thought bringing the Onion back as a print comedy newspaper was insane too, so possibly they know things I don’t. There is a business plan here, even if it’s a dumb one.
anon84873628 6mo ago
The original goal was to put money in the hands of the Sandy Hook victims without the website continuing on to another set of deplorable owners.
traderj0e 6mo ago
The Onion's humor is like that drawing of the angry crying guy wearing a laughing face mask. It's only "funny" if you're pissed off about something.
- snowwrestler 6mo ago
  Who isn’t pissed off about something in 2026?
  - traderj0e 6mo ago
    Yeah people are, and they do make fun of some things I'm pissed off about too, but that doesn't make it funny. It's an "only-if" relationship.
- DonHopkins 6mo ago
  [flagged]
  - traderj0e 6mo ago
    [flagged]
    - DonHopkins 6mo ago
      [flagged]
      - traderj0e 6mo ago
        What joke is on me? Some people are downvoting/flagging me, maybe the joke is on them.
        DonHopkins 6mo ago
        [flagged]
themafia 6mo ago
Alex Jones lives rent free in peoples heads. They mistake a phyrric victory for a real victory.
- sleepybrett 6mo ago
  they took everything he owned and are now unraveling all the bullshit tricks he used to hide his assets. Certainly it's more real than phyrric.
  - themafia 6mo ago
    He can own new things. So, other than inconveniencing him slightly, I'm not sure what we've accomplished.
    - sleepybrett 6mo ago
      ... after he services his debt, then he can have toys.
      - themafia 6mo ago
        That's not at all how corporate or personal bankruptcies work. You exactly prove my point.
        sleepybrett 6mo ago
        .. but in this case: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5501648/alex-jones-infowars-receiver https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5501648/alex-jones-info... "If Infowars' brand and property are sold, Jones could still start a new company or work for someone else. But because the bankruptcy judge ruled Jones' behavior "willful and malicious," the bankruptcy will not erase Jones' debt, meaning families can keep claiming any money he makes in the future until he pays the $1.3 billion he owes them."
        6mo ago

by pton_xd 6mo ago

It was barely funny when I read the headline a few years ago. Really weird story, I guess I just don't understand the humor at all. I'd rather stop hearing about InfoWars entirely.

ocdtrekkie 6mo ago

Bear in mind buying it to ruin it is a very real public service. Alex Jones was hoping a conservative ally would buy it and then just continue to let him do what he wants. Jokes aside, The Onion is basically spending a giant pile of money to burn the website down.

busterarm 6mo ago
I remember when The KLF burned a million quid. They were being internally consistent. It was artistically relevant. Most people thought they were insane. Bill Drummond wrote about how it strained his relationship with his kids. You can tell that he regrets it. Personally I think a million bucks to lease a domain name for a year is a really terrible business decision. You might be able to argue that it's going to victims but you could almost certainly just park that money into an interest-bearing account and do better for those victims. But it's also been obvious from the beginning (starting with Jones' own comments) that nobody really gives a shit about these families and they're just props in other peoples' theater show.
- quesera 6mo ago
  If benefitting the victims is a goal, then clearly sending them money now is more valuable than sending them interest-borne money later. If the victims don't benefit from the money now, they can bear their own interest. Time-value, etc.
- ocdtrekkie 6mo ago
  I get the impression that beyond the money from the sale, the victims would very much like Alex Jones control of InfoWars to end. This accomplishes both of those things. I don't generally find The Onion that funny, and probably will never visit the new InfoWars, but I'm eternally grateful that they were willing to step in and do this. Because someone had to. A "good business decision" is to let Alex run his show if you buy the brand, but that's still a win for him. Not only would another owner likely allow Alex Jones to continue to operate, but The Onion can truly salt the earth around Alex Jones' business. If they own the InfoWars trademarks... if they own The Alex Jones Show as a trademark? They can potentially shut down Alex Jones' future works if they violate InfoWars' trademarks and intellectual property. They can sue him if he says something defamatory about the new InfoWars. One of the perks here is that The Onion is well-versed in free speech rights, intellectual property rights, and trademark law. They already have lawyers good at this stuff. The Onion can be a truly significant thorn in Jones' side, the way most other outcomes for this could not. I'm guessing the new site won't be that funny, but thankfully I don't really care about the "art".
- BryantD 6mo ago
  The cost seems really high. On the other hand I thought bringing the Onion back as a print comedy newspaper was insane too, so possibly they know things I don’t. There is a business plan here, even if it’s a dumb one.

anon84873628 6mo ago

The original goal was to put money in the hands of the Sandy Hook victims without the website continuing on to another set of deplorable owners.

traderj0e 6mo ago

The Onion's humor is like that drawing of the angry crying guy wearing a laughing face mask. It's only "funny" if you're pissed off about something.

snowwrestler 6mo ago
Who isn’t pissed off about something in 2026?
- traderj0e 6mo ago
  Yeah people are, and they do make fun of some things I'm pissed off about too, but that doesn't make it funny. It's an "only-if" relationship.
DonHopkins 6mo ago
[flagged]
- traderj0e 6mo ago
  [flagged]
  - DonHopkins 6mo ago
    [flagged]
    - traderj0e 6mo ago
      What joke is on me? Some people are downvoting/flagging me, maybe the joke is on them.
      - DonHopkins 6mo ago
        [flagged]

themafia 6mo ago

Alex Jones lives rent free in peoples heads. They mistake a phyrric victory for a real victory.

sleepybrett 6mo ago
they took everything he owned and are now unraveling all the bullshit tricks he used to hide his assets. Certainly it's more real than phyrric.
- themafia 6mo ago
  He can own new things. So, other than inconveniencing him slightly, I'm not sure what we've accomplished.
  - sleepybrett 6mo ago
    ... after he services his debt, then he can have toys.
    - themafia 6mo ago
      That's not at all how corporate or personal bankruptcies work. You exactly prove my point.
      - sleepybrett 6mo ago
        .. but in this case: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5501648/alex-jones-infowars-receiver https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5501648/alex-jones-info... "If Infowars' brand and property are sold, Jones could still start a new company or work for someone else. But because the bankruptcy judge ruled Jones' behavior "willful and malicious," the bankruptcy will not erase Jones' debt, meaning families can keep claiming any money he makes in the future until he pays the $1.3 billion he owes them."
        6mo ago