“Legally, we have to say this is a direct parody of Alex Jones and all this bullshit, until we’re allowed to take all his stuff,” Collins tells WIRED. “But until then, we’re having a lot of fun.” Attorneys for Jones did not return requests for comment; messages to Infowars email accounts returned as undeliverable.
Lawson calls the capture of the Infowars The term “karmic justice” for the families of Sandy Hook, who have not yet received payment from Jones. The Onion plans to give the families $100,000 in proceeds, Collins told The Associated Press.
I Infowars parody also meets business and cultural needs, Lawson explains.
“We realized that at some point we needed a satirical product that was internet satire,” Lawson said. “But the problem is that the Internet is very difficult to mock because there is no Internet. To mock, you need a shared understanding of something that you’re breaking.”
When Collins conceived the stunt’s discovery of Infowarsthey began to see it as an opportunity to target one of the most common digital brands: “These flies with a million listeners. [and] he’ll say and do anything to make money,” Lawson said. “These podcasters, they’re the kind of thing you can make fun of, the Joe Rogans and the Alex Joneses.”
The idea, Collins says, is to poke fun at the Internet brain rot that has infected the entire social media space. “It allows us to like break down how stupid everything is and how people talk now,” he explained. “People are always trying to figure out the big secret thing that’s running the world, but in reality, the big secret thing that’s running the world is staring right in front of us, it’s the big, deceitful government we live under its thumb.”
Besides Heidecker, the live broadcast will feature other familiar faces and voices. Tim Robinson of I think you should go again Chairman’s Company calls himself “Tim from Ohio” in the first episode, leading to a discussion of whether Bozo the Clown was actually several different people. Fictional news anchor Jim Haggerty (Brad Holbrook) also returns, having left his steady job at the Onion News Network to air cranoid crackpot views while promoting products like “Hog Water.”
And the catchy opening theme is provided by comedian-singer Nick Lutsko, who has often appeared with songs mocking Jones and other alt-rights. This song is quickly dismissed when Lutsko’s idea of a cartoon “Infowars The Elf” mascot is rejected by the corporate elite—but he keeps forcing the character to return to the club anyway.
“This is very similar to the ‘Avengers, get it together’ thing for everyone who’s been making fun of these assholes for years,” Collins said. “I think if [this cast] it’s always been a direct challenge to Trumpism that we probably won’t have Trumpism.” Lawson adds, “I worry about democracy, and I think satire is the answer to that, to be able to point to things that we look around and say, ‘This is wrong.’
