The selloff stems from defamation lawsuits from the families affected by the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who accused Jones of causing emotional distress when he spent years falsely promoting that the incident was fabricated. Jones has since said he made a mistake in his public characterization of the shooting and has since affirmed that it did happen.

Jones, a prominent figure in alternative media, built a significant online presence through his Infowars brand, founded in 1999. The show has been a combination of talk radio and internet videos that promoted unproven theories surrounding the news and sensational claims of government plots.