Webcast host Alex Jones has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of a court ruling that awarded nearly $1.5 billion in damages against him, hundreds of times his net worth.
Media outlets obtained copies of chapter 11 bankruptcy documents filed by the InfoWars host, dubbed a conspiracy theorist by many, in the US state of Texas on Wednesday.
Jones was ordered by a Connecticut court in October to pay $965 million in compensation to the families and surviving victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre plus $473 million in punitive damages.
That was after a jury found the outspoken establishment critic had defamed the plaintiffs by claiming the massacre that left 28 dead — including perpetrator Adam Lanza and his mother — and two wounded was a false-flag hoax organized by the government with "crisis actors".
Jones retracted those claims in August and apologized during the hearings.
On the bankruptcy form, he listed his net worth in the category to be between $1 million and $10 million, with debts of between $1 billion and $10 billion — around a thousand times greater in the wake of the court case.
Jones appealed to his viewers for financial help in August, saying bailiffs could ransack his studio if he was unable to pay.
"If we don’t get solvent and get enough money to come out of this bankruptcy, they’ll appoint a receiver and start selling off the equipment," he said.
Jones hit the headlines again on Thursday after he hosted rapper Kanye West and his friend, 'alt-right' commentator Nick Fuentes, on InfoWars. The presenter was astounded at West's defense of Adolf Hitler and questioning of the Nazi genocide, and challenged him on several points.