AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Onion’s plan to take over the Infowars platforms that Alex Jones built into a bullhorn of conspiracy theories and turn them into parody sites was in limbo again Thursday, after
a court paused a proposed deal involving the satirical news outlet.
Infowars is facing liquidation because of the more than $1 billion in defamation lawsuit judgments Jones owes relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for calling the massacre a hoax. The proposed deal would give The Onion temporary authority to use Infowars' trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property while a state receiver in Texas works toward liquidation.
A state judge had scheduled a hearing Thursday on whether to approve The Onion deal. But the proceeding turned into a status conference because the Texas Third Court of Appeals approved an emergency motion by Jones’ lawyers that temporarily blocked the transfer of any Infowars assets. The judge set another hearing for May 28.
Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families had asked the Texas Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court ruling before Thursday's hearing.
“This newly insane, unprecedented legal stalling does nothing but delay our deal with the receiver to take control of InfoWars,” Ben Collins, The Onion's CEO, said in a social media post ahead of Thursday's hearing. “We now expect new traps in Alex Jones’ amoral war to deny paying the Sandy Hook families, but we’re freshly surprised by the U.S. legal system’s appetite to put up with it.”
Jones declared victory in videos posted on his social media sites Wednesday night, calling The Onion's plan illegal in part because he has court appeals pending in the case.
“I said days ago there’s no way the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas doesn’t overturn this — you know they’re all Democrats — because it’s so outrageous what you’ve done,” Jones wrote.
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
