The Onion, 'Tired of Waiting Around,' Sets Date for Infowars Reboot

The Onion says it's tired of waiting for the case to make its way through the courts and will relaunch its version of Alex Jones' old megaphone within weeks. The Onion says it will reboot InfoWars on its own channels July 2 as a comedy and culture platform, turning the once-conspiracy-heavy brand into a home for original programming, guest talent, and new comedic voices, the Verge reports. The relaunch, developed with input from families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, arrives more than a year after news first surfaced that the Onion was working to acquire the Jones-owned property. The takeover, along with efforts to pay Sandy Hook families, has been left in legal limbo by multiple court challenges.

Jones, who repeatedly claimed that the 2012 mass shooting was a hoax, was ordered to pay more than $1.4 billion to the Sandy Hook families after losing a defamation suit in 2022. "Alex is holding Infowars.com hostage," Onion CEO Ben Collins tells MS Now. "He's trying to intentionally degrade the assets so these families can never sell them, and the courts have largely obliged. We're tired of waiting around." He adds: "We are allowed, and even more, these families are entitled to this stuff. Somebody's got to do this, or else he'll get away with it." The rollout is paired with a $100,000 donation to Sandy Hook families, raised through project-related merchandise, which the Onion calls the first of multiple planned contributions.

Comedian Tim Heidecker is leading the new InfoWars. The Onion has been teasing the project with clips featuring its fictional anchor Jim Haggerty, now recast as a conspiracy-minded podcaster. While the legal structure remains in flux—the Onion expects to license the brand from a court-appointed manager—Collins says the real story is "about what happens when you take a platform that was built around bulls--- and fear and turn it into something that supports funny, human stuff instead." The show debuts at 8pm ET on July 2 at theonion.info and across the Onion's social accounts.