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The Simpsons conspiracy theories that AREN鈥橳 TRUE

Part of Other Side of the Story

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie have been gracing our screens for more than three decades, and according to the internet, the show has made some eerily-accurate predictions on everything from politics to technology. But what if we told you that some viral posts about The Simpsons predicting future events, have actually been fake?

Top three Simpsons predictions or conspiracy theories debunked!

1. The 2024 Baltimore bridge collapse

Two images from The Simpsons - showing a ship sinking after hitting a bridge, the other is the same image but has sections highlighted where there are telltale signs of AI use. Background image is pink donuts on a blue background.

This image featuring Homer and Lisa, supposedly showing the collapse of the Baltimore bridge, recently went viral with more than 36m views on X. At first glance this image looks legit, but it was actually generated using AI.

If you take a closer look at the image, you see 10 spikes in Lisa's famous hair, whereas the real Lisa only has eight spikes in her hair. Homer's hair is also a giveaway, as the zig-zags are noticeably narrower than those we see in the show. There are often tell-tale signs to help you spot a fake image, but it's getting harder to tell what's real and what's not.

If you think you can spot whether an image is real or AI, check out April's AI or Real Quiz and see if you can get full marks!

2. Donald Trump becomes President of The United States

One image from The Simpsons of Homer and Donald Trump using an escalator, the other is of the real life Donald Trump on an escaltor. Background image is pink donuts on a blue background.Fox

One of the most famous 'predictions' from The Simpsons was that Donald Trump would become the President of the United States. This is partly true. Lisa did actually reference Donald Trump being president in an episode which aired in 2000. However, this image above, which often accompanies stories about the presidential prediction is from a short episode called 'Trumptastic Voyage' which was broadcast in 2015, after Trump had already announced running for President.

The image shows Trump and Homer on an escalator in front of a crowd holding 'vote' signs 鈥 a situation that had already happened in reality (minus Homer!) by the time the animators drew it. This picture has often been used as 'proof' that The Simpsons have made some accurate predictions, however, this is a classic case of misinformation.

3. The Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in 2019

Two images from The Simpsons - one of Notre-Dame cathedral with flames on it, the other without flames. Background image is pink donuts on a blue background.Fox

Another image that has been viewed almost 400,000 times on TikTok and even featured in TV news reports, is one supposedly showing The Simpsons predicting the 2019 Notre-Dame fire. However, this image has been digitally altered.

The original Notre-Dame clip was from an episode from Season 19 called 'Husbands and Knives' where Homer carries Marge into the Cathedral for sanctuary, parodying Victor Hugo's classic book 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'. In this example of fake news, Mr Burns and the flames on the cathedral were added using photo-editing software, proving that you shouldn't always believe everything you see online.

This article was published in April 2024.

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