Chobani Yogurt Is Suing Alex Jones for $10,000
The far right has managed to snare many seemingly innocent foodstuffs in its weird web: pizza, milk, and, now, Greek yogurt. Chobani Yogurt has been a target of right-wing ire for the past year because of the immigrant- and refugee-friendly hiring practices used to staff up their factories in both upstate New York and Idaho. Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, of Infowars fame, went so far as to suggest in an April 11 video that the company was to blame for a rise in "crime and tuberculosis" near its Idaho plant, despite having no evidence to support his claim. And now Chobani is fighting back with a lawsuit against Alex Jones and Infowars, seeking at least $10,000 in compensation.
The lawsuit, which Chobani filed yesterday in Idaho state court, claims that Infowars defamed Chobani and its owner Hamdi Ulukaya. One example cited was a tweet that read "Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists," linking to a video that Chobani claimed was full of misinformation. Chobani also said that Jones refused to remove the specious reports despite repeated requests. "[Jones] is no stranger to spurious statements," the lawsuit states. "He has claimed that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Mr. Jones has now taken aim at Chobani and the Twin Falls community."
Jones, naturally, responded to the lawsuit in an audio statement on his YouTube channel, claiming that billionaire George Soros is behind the suit. Soros is not named in the court documents, nor is there any evidence to suggest that he's in any way attached to the suit. "I'm not backing down, I'm never giving up, I love this," Jones said. "They have jumped the trillion-pound great white shark on this baby."
