TEXAS — A Texas appeals court granted an emergency request from Alex Jones to pause a deal that would have allowed The Onion to license the Infowars brand name. The order prevented a lower court judge from ruling on the agreement at a hearing scheduled for Thursday, where The Onion had expected approval. The deal remains pending while the courts address legal issues raised by Jones's appeal.

Jones said he is being forced to leave his Infowars studio in Austin, Texas, on Thursday because a court-appointed state receiver stopped paying to keep the studio open. "Thursday is the last official Infowars show," Jones said. The receiver is responsible for taking control of Jones's assets and using the proceeds to pay the Sandy Hook families.

The families won more than $1.3 billion in a defamation case against Jones after he claimed the 2012 elementary school shooting never happened and alleged the grieving parents were actors trying to drum up support for gun control. Supporters of Jones stalked and harassed the Sandy Hook families for years. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the final judgments in favor of the families. As of now, the families have not collected any money from Jones's assets.

Attorney Chris Mattei, who represents the Sandy Hook families, addressed the appeals court's order. "The Sandy Hook families have endless patience and over $1 billion dollars in judgments against Alex Jones and Infowars," Mattei said. "His desperate legal maneuvering can do nothing to stop the inevitable closure of Infowars, and we call on the Texas courts to recognize that the families, whose final judgments have been blessed by the United States Supreme Court, are entitled to a speedy and just resolution."