Infowars Host Alex Jones Retracts Chobani Yogurt Story

AUSTIN, TX — In a rare apology — the type of expressed contrition that makes one wonder if hell has been converted to a frozen tundra — bombastic, ultra-right wing radio host Alex Jones of Austin on Wednesday retracted a pair of sensationalist stories he aired that he now concedes were not factually based.

The conspiracy theorist who has built a media empire through his Infowars media outlets agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit filed against him by Greek yogurt maker Chobani, the terms of which include a retraction of inflammatory comments made about the company and refugees in general, the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets reported.

Chobani is a textbook example of achieving the American Dream, founded by Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant living in Idaho. In 2005, he purchased a shuttered Kraft yogurt plant in New York and dutifully converting it to the hub for his brisk yogurt-making business.

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But Jones — an ardent Donald Trump supporter who espouses travel bans of foreigners into the U.S. — extrapolated something more sinister from the success story. Last summer, Jones conflated a since-debunked story alleging an assault by three refugee children against a 5-year-old girl with the yogurt maker. For good measure, Jones advanced the notion of tuberculosis-suffused yogurt in his feverish narrative.

None of it was true, he now admits.

“During the week of April 10, 2017, certain statements were made on the Infowars, Twitter feed and YouTube channel regarding Chobani LLC that I now understand to be wrong," Jones said in a prepared statement. "The tweets and video have now been retracted, and will not be re-posted. On behalf of Infowars, I regret that we mischaracterized Chobani, its employees and the people of Twin Falls, Idaho, the way we did.”

Lately, Jones has been forced to issue retractions on sensationalist (if untrue) stories that are his stock in trade, luring an audience of more than 2 million subscribers to his YouTube channel alone and untold numbers of listeners to his radio program. In March, Jones apologized and issued a retraction to a pizzeria owner in Washington, D.C., that Jones claimed was the hub of a child sex ring involving Hillary Clinton.

That wasn't true either, although iterations of the tale still lurk in the internet ether.

More recently, another retraction of sorts emerged during a bitter child custody case with the radio personality's ex-wife. His attorney told reporters Jones was a performance artist (kind of like wrestlers are), hinting that his reports are meant as entertainment rather than legitimate news based on the rigors of fact and the rooted nature of reality.

The admission came amid allegations from Jones' ex-wife that there is no distinction between the provocateur's on-air persona and his actual personality. The lawyer complained it would be as unfair to judge Jones based on his on-air rants to judging an actor portraying the Joker in movies centered on the heroics of Batman.

Jones published his videotaped yogurt story and promoted it on Twitter with the headline "Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists," generating more than 22,000 views as of April and 147 retweets, the Los Angeles Times noted. The subsequent lawsuit by the yogurt maker sought monetary damages and a retraction.

Chobani officials had no comment, other than to confirm the case was settled.

>>> Read the full story at Los Angeles Times

Photo via Alex Jones Facebook page