The Simpsons trends yet again over supposedly predicting Baltimore Bridge Collapse in viral video

Following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, The Simpsons started trending on social media over claims of predicting the event. On March 26, Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali collided with the bridge while deporting from the port.

The container reportedly lost power, which caused its engines to halt colliding with the bridge and leading to its collapse. Local authorities avoided a major accident by closing the bridge promptly. All 22 crew members and two pilots on the ship escaped the accident unharmed, but two deaths have been reported.

Soon after, an image and a video clip, supposedly from the popular American sitcom The Simpsons went viral on social media. The image depicted Homer Simpson standing on a boat with a cup in hand while Lisa and another unnamed character sat before him.

All of them are seen looking at a ship halfway through sinking with a bridge collapsing behind. Small boats are drawn strewn around the water as well.

The viral video clip showed another character Kent Brockman — a local Springfield news anchor precisely reporting on the Francis Scott Key Bridge's demise. Brockman is seen mentioning the exact date and time of the original event.

Users shared both, claiming that the show had predicted the bridge collapse in Baltimore.

---

Authenticity of The Simpsons' supposed prediction of Baltimore bridge collapse explored

Some social media users shared the viral image, saying that it contained visuals from the sitcom’s Episode 8 of Season 35.

However, in the original episode, the Simpson family was shown traveling to Scotland. It had no visuals or mention of a bridge collapsing or a ship sinking. Although a bridge resembling the one that collapsed in Baltimore was shown in that episode, the show illustrated Scotland’s Forth Bridge.

There was also no indication of Homer and his family predicting the March 26 incident.

Some people drew a connection between another episode on the show and the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. In Episode 2 of The Simpsons’ eighth season, aired in 1996, Hank Scorpio — an antagonist blew up a bridge using a doomsday device.

While netizens interpreted this scene as a prediction for the Baltimore bridge’s fate, the characters in this episode referred to the 59th Street Bridge or the Ed Koch Queensboro in NYC.

As for the viral image illustrating the Simpson family witnessing the bridge collapse — a reverse image search on Google debunked the claim. The search engine traced the creation date for the image to March 28. There were no previous records of the image surfacing on the internet before.

The Baltimore incident occurred on March 26, proving that the image was fabricated and was not taken from The Simpsons.

There are also a few discrepancies in the image. The zigzag pattern at the back of Homer's head was sharper than the pattern on the original character. The number of spikes used for depicting Lisa's hair was 10 in the image, but in the show, there are eight spikes on her hair.

The viral video with Kent Brockman supposedly announcing the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse was also likely generated using artificial intelligence. Nowhere in the original sitcom does the alleged clip appear.

Thus, these viral claims are merely conspiracy theories spun on social media. The Simpsons did not predict the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.