The US Supreme Court has rejected a bid by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to overturn a nearly $1.5bn (£1.1bn) libel verdict against him.

Jones was ordered to pay restitution in 2022 for claiming the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which killed 20 schoolchildren and six educators, was a hoax.

To pay for it, Jones was forced to sell his Infowars media company to satirical news site The Onion. He told the U.S. Supreme Court that the sale would cause irreparable harm to him and his 30 million viewers.

Jones has yet to pay any damages he owes Sandy Hook families.

The Supreme Court did not explain its decision to reject his request.

Jones’ attorneys made a free speech argument — that he should have the same protections as journalists under the First Amendment. Jones believes the financial consequences are too severe.

“The result is a financial death sentence for a media defendant with millions of views,” he told the Supreme Court on appeal.

Chris Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook family, said in a statement provided to the BBC that the court “rightly rejected Jones’ latest desperate attempt to avoid liability for the harm he caused.”

“We look forward to enforcing the jury’s historic verdict and making Jones and Infowars pay for what they have done.”

Although The Onion’s attempt to acquire Infowars was rejected by a bankruptcy judge last year, Infowars may soon be for sale again, giving The Onion another chance.

Legal pressure against Jones has been building since two juries found him liable for defamation and emotional distress for lying about the Sandy Hook school shooting.

After the first judgment in Connecticut, Jones filed for bankruptcy in Texas and Infowars was auctioned off to pay the Sandy Hook family. Prosecution and fees based on judgment.

During the Texas court hearing, Jones admitted the attack was “100 percent real.” He has previously claimed that the massacre was “orchestrated” as part of a government plot to seize guns from Americans and that “no one died.”