Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Thursday moved to liquidate his personal assets, agreeing to demands from the families of Sandy Hook victims whom he owes more than $1.5 billion in damages over his lies about the 2012 school massacre.

The seismic move paves the way for a future in which Jones no longer owns Infowars, the influential conspiracy empire he founded in the late 1990s. Over the years, Jones has not only used the media company to poison the public discourse with vile lies and conspiracy theories, but also to enrich himself to the tune of millions of dollars.

Prior to Thursday, Jones had resisted converting his personal bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation. But facing mounting legal pressure, he reversed course and caved to the demands of the Sandy Hook families, who have still not seen a penny from Jones since juries in Connecticut and Texas found him liable in 2022 for defamation and emotional distress. His lawyers said in a filing that there was “no reasonable prospect for a successful reorganization” and that continuing down the path would only result in additional expenses incurred by Jones.

  • Flying Squid
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    566 months ago

    Maybe, but his force of personality has held it together. Like it or not, and I personally don’t get it, Jones has a peculiar sort of charisma that appeals to some people. Sometimes when the cult of personality is gone, the cult doesn’t last. Here’s hoping.

        • r00ty
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          86 months ago

          Perhaps he will punch an intern, get “fired” and then start a new show called The Grand Infowars or something.

          • Flying Squid
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            36 months ago

            Oh I’m sure he’ll be back in no time with a Twitter Video Alex Jones Network or whatever.

            • Ech
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              6 months ago

              The Twitter Watches Alex Tonight Show.

    • @PaupersSerenade@sh.itjust.works
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      136 months ago

      I’ve only willingly listened to him talk a couple of times (YouTube shorts where his head is on a space Marine from 40k) and I get what you mean. One hopes that this can dissuade some of his more ‘moderate’ listeners, but I do worry about the unhinged majority.

      • nfh
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        16 months ago

        Cults often keep people very busy so they don’t have time to think critically about their situation, and letting the flow of propaganda disconnect can start their victims down the journey of leaving.

        On the other hand, there are a lot of propagandists out there, and people are still flooded with them. Even if they aren’t quite as far out there as he is, maybe they’ll just migrate to a new flavor of unhinged.

    • @kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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      126 months ago

      Sometimes when the cult of personality is gone, the cult doesn’t last

      I’m hoping that happens with the red hat cultists.

      • Flying Squid
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        106 months ago

        Me too. Although they’re insane enough to believe he’s still alive for years after he’s dead. After all, the Q element think JFK, Jr. is still alive. Some of them even think JFK, Sr. is still alive.