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HBO has released the first trailer (below) for its upcoming documentary chronicling the rise and fall of one of the most controversial and disgraced voices in American media: Alex Jones.
In The Truth vs. Alex Jones, filmmaker Dan Reed (Leaving Neverland, Four Hours at the Capitol) shows how Jones built an empire peddling supplements to listeners of his popular InfoWars radio show and then fueled his own collapse by promoting a conspiracy theory that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was staged and its shattered parents were actors.
“With his embrace of Sandy Hook hoaxer theories, Jones discovered that a high-octane mix of conspiracy and politics could set his audience on fire like never before, turbocharging his online supplements business,” Reed said in a statement. “The parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook confronted Jones in a court of law and exposed his lies. My documentary is about this epic legal battle of the disinformation age. Many more will follow as disinformation continues to go mainstream in America.”
From the official description: “Filmed over four years with unprecedented courtroom access, the story of how families whose children were murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took on conspiracy giant Alex Jones in two historic courtroom trials, attempting to hold Jones and InfoWars accountable for the lies they began spreading just hours after the tragedy. Bringing Jones to trial involved years of effort by grieving parents and their legal teams and culminated in two jury trials for damages in Texas and Connecticut. The result was America’s largest award for damages in a defamation case, with nearly $1.5 billion awarded by juries in the two states to the families, just as Jones declared bankruptcy.”
Despite the judgment, the Sandy Hook families are still in legal purgatory after Jones declared bankruptcy. The families have offered to settle with Jones for $85 million paid over 10 years.
The Truth vs. Alex Jones had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on Monday and has a second screening at the festival tomorrow.
The documentary will premiere on HBO and Max on Tuesday, March 26.