A bankruptcy judge put on ice for now a trustee’s attempt to sell right-wing provocateur Alex Jones’ social media accounts, citing concerns about which assets can, and will, be sold.
The trustee’s proposal to auction off Jones’ 16 social media accounts, plus rights to his book “The Great Reset: And the War for the World” and the video game “Alex Jones: NOW Wars,” was temporarily rejected by US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Lopez at a hearing Friday. Jones has opposed the trustee’s effort.
Lopez said he has concerns that the trustee tasked with liquidating Jones’ assets, Christopher Murray, didn’t make clear what exactly would be sold, which could create a litigation risk for a buyer. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for next week to hear arguments on which assets can be sold.
“I’m concerned about the nature of the assets, and I could be encouraging something being auctioned and then having folks coming back and tell me that wasn’t something that should have been auctioned,” Lopez said. “I think we ought to have great clarity.”
Murray is working to liquidate Jones’ estate and that of Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems LLC, to help pay down nearly $1.5 billion in defamation judgments related to statements Jones made calling the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax.
Lopez gave Murray the green light in September to start auctioning off the property for Jones’ Infowars media platform. Murray on Oct. 15 sought to add Jones’ media assets to the Nov. 13 auction after he said they attracted interest from multiple parties.
The trustee proposed selling Jones’ account on X, previously known as Twitter, as well as accounts on Gab, Telegram, and former President Donald Trump’s social media company Truth Social.
Murray presented a proposed order Friday to Lopez that would have allowed for the social media accounts to be added to the sale, but preserved rights to fight over ownership issues later.
Selling off the rights to Jones’ social media accounts would constitute an unlawful taking of his liberty rights, violate his personal privacy and his right of publicity, Jones attorney Kinsey Lakey of Platt Richmond PLLC said at the hearing.
“I do think it subjects any potential purchaser to litigation in perpetuity as well as damaging Alex Jones for having to defend himself in that litigation, which defeats the purpose of this bankruptcy proceeding,” Lakey said.
Ryan Chapple of Cain & Skarnulis PLLC, representing a group of Sandy Hook victims’ families, said he agreed with Lopez’s decision to hold off on the sale because there are factual issues over who managed Jones’ social media accounts.
“We want to make sure the values maximize and I think the value is maximized by knowing up front what is sellable and what is not,” Chapple said.
Jones is represented by by Elliott, Thomason & Gibson LLP and Platt Richmond PLLC.
The Chapter 7 trustee is represented by Jones Murray LLP and Porter Hedges LLP.
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