Onion Infowars parody: $100,000 pledged to Sandy Hook families
AUSTIN. The Onion launched a parody of Alex Jones' Infowars on Thursday, with a YouTube premiere video and comedian Tim Heidecker playing Jones. The satirical outlet says it will send $100,000 from merchandise sales to families of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, using gear that mixes Infowars branding with The Onion's own rainbow logo.
Jones was ordered to pay $1.4 billion in defamation judgments after calling the 2012 shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six adults, a hoax. The families haven't been paid. The Onion is still pursuing legal control of Jones' actual Infowars assets. Sandy Hook families' attorney Chris Mattei said turning the platform toward "some social good" is "even better" than the alternative. Onion CEO Ben Collins put it simply: "Don't give comedy writers a grudge for 18 months."
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