In a surprising application of Bitcoin, The Onion, the satirical publication known for lampooning the powerful, said it would accept the top cryptocurrency from fans of Infowars.
“The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash,” said Ben Collins, the publication’s CEO.
On Thursday, The Onion acquired Infowars, the extreme right-wing media platform founded by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, out of bankruptcy.
And instead of offering up “disinformation,” the new site pledged that it would provide a “relentless barrage of humour.”
‘Very stupid’ website
This new version of Infowars is set on being a parody of itself by mocking Jones and similar figures.
“Stand by for the funniest news you’ve ever heard in your life,” Collins tweeted. He said he plans on making a “very stupid” website.
Under Jones, Infowars won legions of followers by promoting damaging conspiracy theories.
Most notoriously, after a 20-year-old named Adam Lanza murdered 20 schoolchildren and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Jones and Infowars said the shooting was a “hoax” staged by actors.
The surviving families sued Jones for defamation and emotional distress and after a number of legal proceedings, he was ordered by the courts to pay about $1.5 billion in damages. Jones then filed for bankruptcy protection.
The Onion’s Infowars acquisition was made with support from Sandy Hook families.
Hapless owner
A gun safety advocacy group called Everytown for Gun Safety also signed on as exclusive advertiser for the new program.
The Onion wasted little time in publishing an article on the deal.
“In a stroke of good fortune, a formidable special interest group has outwitted the hapless owner of InfoWars (a forgettable man with an already-forgotten name) and forced him to sell it at a steep bargain: less than one trillion dollars,” read a post by parody CEO Bryce P. Tetraeder.
The fake CEO, who Collins claimed is unavailable for comments, added that what’s next for InfoWars is undecided.
Pedro Solimano is a Markets Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at psolimano@dlnews.com.
