The Onion is in the process of acquiring Infowars, the shadowy media empire once owned by far-right provocateur Alex Jones.
The satirical news site plans to debut the early stages of the show just in time for America’s 250th anniversary.th Despite the ongoing legal battle, the birthday celebrations are still going ahead and plans are in place to donate more than $100,000 to families affected by the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Here’s what you need to know about the new InfoWars ahead of its debut.
Building on “a very broken part of media history”
The Onion has announced that it will premiere an early slate of programming, including two shows, “Emergency with Tim Heidecker” and “The Jim Hagerty Show,” on July 2 at 8 p.m. ET.
Onion CEO Ben Collins told USA TODAY that the launch will be “explosive,” calling it “the most important thing that’s ever happened.”
The show will be streamed on TheOnion.info and the @RealInfoWars profile on YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, Facebook and BlueSky, as well as “TVs at every gas station across the continental United States,” Collins said.
One of the shows will feature Tim Heidecker, who rose to fame in the early 2000s for his unique brand of fringe outsider comedy. The former star of “Tom Goes Mayor” and “Tim and Eric’s Great Show, Great Job!” has been brought on as creative director for the new InfoWars. He’s already creating content for the brand, embracing the gravelly voice and absurdist, conspiratorial identity that Jones was known for.
“There are a lot of talented people out there doing great work with a little bit of help,” Heidecker said. “This is an opportunity to build a space for ambitious, specific, internet-native comedy and create something truly new from a very broken part of the medium’s history. The premiere is just the beginning.”
Over time, the new effort will move away from “parodying the gripes and frustrations of platforms like InfoWars” and instead focus on “a broader comedy ecosystem rooted in curation, talent development, and internet-native storytelling,” according to The Onion.
InfoWars Merchandise Supporting the Sandy Hook Family
Coinciding with the debut of the new show, The Onion also announced plans to donate more than $100,000 to families affected by the Sandy Hook shooting.
The incident became the epicenter of Onion’s acquisition of Infowars after Jones used his platform to promote baseless conspiracy theories that the shootings were staged and that those involved were “crisis actors,” a message that led to years of harassment and intimidation of survivors.
In 2022, Jones lost a defamation lawsuit brought by the Sandy Hook family. He was ordered to pay a $1.3 billion judgment, which was supposed to be covered by the sale of InfoWars. Mr. Jones has not yet paid the money owed to his family.
Jones’ new media company did not respond to requests for comment.
“From the beginning, this has been about the Sandy Hook family and ensuring that we create something better from a platform that has caused so much harm,” Collins said. “We did this because we saw an opportunity to take one of the most evil things on the internet and turn it into something funny, creative, and actually useful.”
To help raise money for the Sandy Hook family, The Onion launched its first online edition called InfoWars, hosted on the company’s larger website. It contains various links to products that parody the fake supplements and metaphysical elixirs that Jones promoted to promote his career. Examples include the Demon Guard’s Sacred Protection Patch (basically a band-aid shaped like a cross), the Pure-O oxygen capsule, the “Learn to Float” kit, and the pill that promises to turn urine into gold.
In addition to farcical merchandise, there’s also regular InfoWars merchandise, including hats, glasses, sweatshirts, and more. Proceeds will support the Sandy Hook family, who also helped develop the vision for The Onion’s new endeavors.
“This story is no longer about InfoWars,” Collins said. “This is about what happens when you transform a platform built around bullshit and fear into one that instead supports something funny and human. At a time when so much media is shrinking, we’re investing in comedians, creators, and original programming because we think people want better things made by humans.”
Mr Collins added: “As for this guy you asked about, Alex, I’ve never heard of him.”
Drew Pittock covers trending news from around the country for USA TODAY. He can be reached at DPittock@usatodayco.com.
