In a move that initially seemed like a satirical fever dream, The Onion—under the leadership of new CEO Ben Collins—successfully acquired Alex Jones’ conspiracy-riddled media empire, Infowars. While legal maneuvering in Texas attempted to stall the takeover, the transition quickly evolved into a bold, performative reclamation of the platform. By July, comedian Tim Heidecker had assumed the mantle of the new Infowars host, channeling Jones’ trademark “roid-rage” persona with startling, surreal precision. For Heidecker and Collins, this isn’t merely a comedy sketch; it is an attempt to repurpose a fractured, toxic piece of media history into a home for “ambitious, internet-native” satire.
The takeover represents a pivot for Collins, a former NBC News reporter who left mainstream journalism after witnessing the growing hostility toward truth-seeking professionals. After years of covering disinformation and the weaponization of government committees against researchers, Collins felt the traditional news landscape had become stifling. His purchase of The Onion in 2024 was driven by a nostalgic reverence for the publication’s role during the Iraq War, and he ultimately opted to acquire the Infowars assets to prevent them from falling back into the hands of someone like Jones. Despite ongoing court battles, Collins and Heidecker have defiantly moved forward, treating the acquisition as a form of “masochistic” political activism.
The synergy between Collins’ news background and Heidecker’s long history of avant-garde comedy—seen in projects like On Cinema and Office Hours Live—has turned the new Infowars into a highly specific critique of modern media polarization. Collins describes Heidecker as the ideal choice for this project, praising his unique ability to “precisely identify the next nightmare” in American culture and eviscerate it through parody. The collaboration is intentionally designed to be unsettling, blending the high-stakes absurdity of the original platform with the biting, self-aware humor that has become a staple of The Onion’s brand.
The revamped Infowars has quickly found its rhythm, featuring a rotating cast of comedians like Brad Holbrook, Harris Alterman, and Tim Robinson. The program mirrors the original’s chaotic energy—complete with absurd advertisements for doomsday goods—while constantly undermining the logic of its far-right inspiration. Collins views this new iteration as a “one-to-one parody,” a surgical strike against the disinformation machine that has defined much of American political discourse over the last decade. As the show enters its second month, it continues to defy court-ordered pauses, asserting that this new version of Infowars is a permanent, disruptive fixture.
Beyond the meta-commentary, the acquisition marks a significant cultural moment for The Onion itself. Under Collins’ stewardship, the outlet has seen a revival in print, boasting over 83,000 paid subscribers and a growing global reach. This expansion proves, according to Collins, that there is a deep-seated public hunger for sharp, truthful satire in an era of manufactured outrage. By positioning The Onion as a media powerhouse capable of dismantling behemoths like Infowars, Collins is testing the limits of what a satire company can achieve when it stops simply observing the news and starts aggressively participating in the media ecosystem.
As for the future, the partnership between Collins and Heidecker shows no signs of slowing down, even as they navigate legal threats and industry backlash. With promises of increasingly unhinged guest appearances and a mission to subvert the media landscapes that fostered figures like Alex Jones, the duo has effectively turned the “basement layer of hell” into their own testing ground. When asked about his next potential move after such a provocative acquisition, Collins offers a characteristically whimsical response, suggesting his appetite for corporate reclamation might just turn toward unlikely business interests like the restaurant chain Red Lobster.