The Simpsons

Did the television show "The Simpsons" predict Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022? No, that's not true: An image showing the queen in a coffin with the dates 1926-2022 is not a real still from "The Simpsons." The queen's death does not appear in any episodes of this series. Lead Stories previously debunked a claim that used a similar image…

Did a rapper named Dr. Creep predict the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, also known as COVID-19, in a song he created titled "Pandemic"? No, that's not true: The musician outright refuted this claim in a Facebook post near the beginning of the pandemic, stating that he was referencing the coronavirus pandemics that were ongoing in 2013 -- which was different from…

Did the New Mexico National Guard "terrorize" schoolchildren? No, that's not true: An official representative of the Estancia School District told Lead Stories, "this event never happened." A New Mexico National Guardsman tells Lead Stories this information is," false." Also, this claim was made on a self-described satirical website whose disclaimer says it publishes articles like this one for "entertainment…

Are COVID-19 vaccines the reason vaccinated people ages 10 to 59 in England are dying at twice the rate of the unvaccinated? No, that's not true: Age 10-59 is, statistically, a huge age group, so the claim uses a misleading "same age" comparison. Within that group are older adults, who are three times more likely to be vaccinated, with a…

Is Jacob Rothschild worth "$500 trillion" and does he own "every central bank in the world"? No, that's not true: A satirical meme posted about the wealthy Rothschild exaggerates his estimated $5 billion wealth and erroneously claims that he owns every central bank in the world. There is no evidence he has financed both sides of every war since Napoleon…

Did McDonald's in Japan run an ad campaign that featured a shirtless Ronald McDonald in red briefs overflowing with french fries? No, that's not true: In 2019, this french fry ad was promoting a much smaller Japanese restaurant chain called Yotteba. The artwork at the center of the campaign, "Sexy Ronald," was created in 2011 by a Brooklyn artist who…

Did "The Simpsons" television show predict several future events including George Floyd's death, the Notre Dame cathedral fire, Donald Trump touching an orb and others? No, that's not true. A video containing clips of events that the FOX TV show "predicted" has several fake images purported to be from the show, but they were never part of "The Simpsons." The…

Did "The Simpsons" predict the protester wearing viking horns who stormed the United States Capitol building? No, that's not true: A meme claims a Simpsons TV episode once showed the "Groundskeeper Willie" character dressed like the man in viking horns who was photographed inside the Capitol with insurrectionists on the afternoon of January 6, 2021. The image of the Simpsons…

Did "The Simpsons" animated TV sitcom predict Donald Trump's 2016 victory 15 years before he even announced his candidacy? Did the show also foretell the full electoral map of the 2016 election results? No, that's not true: The cartoon images in this meme do not match the story or date attached to them. The cartoon image of Donald Trump was…

Did "The Simpsons" TV show air a scene several years ago that showed Donald Trump in a coffin? No, that's not true: This image is not a real still taken from "The Simpsons" TV show. Although the artwork is in the style of the show, it is not a still from an animated scene, nor does this event happen in…