A viral photo suggesting The Simpsons predicted the Baltimore bridge collapse shows the characters standing on a boat, witnessing a ship and a bridge collapsing.
Many claim the American TV series foresaw the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. However, these claims are not true, and here’s why:
AI-generated images shared on X add to Simpsons bridge collapse conspiracy theories
One of the conspiracy theories circulating about the Baltimore Bridge collapse is the belief that The Simpsons forecasted the tragic event. Many AI-generated videos and images from the well-known animated series show the characters watching the incident.
In a particular video clip, a news reporter describes the Baltimore incident. Some viewers were convinced by the clip and believed that the show accurately predicted the event. There were others who quickly identified it as “fake” and pointed out the misinformation.
People are so into pushing the "Simpsons predicted it" disclosure/predictive programming CT that they are making AI Simpsons scenes for current events. pic.twitter.com/lR3spWXZwh
— Rabbit Hole Cartographer (@QuacksAnonymous) March 28, 2024
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, suffered partial collapse following a collision with a cargo vessel named Dali on Tuesday, March 26. Just before the tragic crash, the ship bound for Singapore experienced a power failure.
It definitely was explosive in the Simpsons episode that predicted this back in 1996. He's a free Mason that writes the show. They already know like a written book what they are doing to us and why. Now research how that bridge will effect the economy pic.twitter.com/UPNQv18tcq
— Marjorie Bishop (@Marjori88206011) March 27, 2024
Following this catastrophic event, various conspiracy theories connecting The Simpsons to the bridge collapse in Baltimore have emerged on social media.
Many user comments called the image fake. And the platform added context to the photo with a message saying, “There is no Simpsons video or episode containing this photo. It first appeared in a TikTok video, according to Google. It is probably AI-generated.”
Fact check shows no online versions of viral image before bridge collapse
The image in question wasn’t found on the internet before March 28, 2024, whereas the bridge collapse occurred on March 26, 2024. After conducting a reverse image search of the photo using multiple search engines, The Quint reported its findings. They didn’t find any results preceding March 28, which is unlikely if the screenshot was genuinely taken from the show.
Some posts suggested that the visuals were from the eighth episode of season 35. Fact-checkers meticulously examined the entire episode on Hotstar. However, this episode depicted the main family’s journey to Scotland. And it did not include scenes of a sinking ship or a collapsing bridge.
Using Google’s Fact-Check Explorer, they traced the earliest record—or ‘indexed’—of the image. This analysis also confirmed that the image didn’t exist before March 28, 2024, which was two days after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore.
An error in character design was identified in the viral photo, particularly concerning the depiction of Homer Simpson. In the authentic show, Homer’s iconic zig-zag hair pattern appears significantly narrower compared to what’s shown in the disputed image.
