'The Simpsons' did not predict date of Pope Francis' death

In early 2025, a rumor spread on social media that an episode of the animated TV series "The Simpsons" predicted the date of Pope Francis' death. Francis died on April 21, 2025.

"The Simpsons predicted Pope Francis's death and the exact date 2025," read one X post (archived) that had more than 258,000 views as of this writing and featured alleged footage from the show.

The Simpsons predicted Pope Francis's death and the exact date 2025 pic.twitter.com/rz5QQrdnKL

— Jasper Ziggle ??? ?? (@JasperZiggle) April 21, 2025

In the video, the narrator claimed:

"The Simpsons" predicted Pope Francis' death in 2025. In a little-known episode of the Simpsons, a misplaced coffin stands at the center of Saint Peter's Basilica surrounded by silent cardinals. A Vatican flag flies at half-mast. And in the background, a giant screen displays the exact time, 11:11. Meanwhile, Kent Brockman reports on the passing of the supreme pontiff, stating that the official cause of death is severe bronchitis. People can't believe it. Crowds gather in St. Peter's Square, some holding candles, others praying in absolute silence. 

The video continued: "A new era is about to begin. Now in real life, concerns about Pope Francis' health are growing. At 87 years old, he has faced multiple hospitalizations, and experts warn that his condition is fragile. Could 'The Simpsons' have predicted another shocking event?" 

The clip concluded with a call to action: "Comment 'Pope' if you wish him strength and protection, and follow me for more eerie predictions that will leave you speechless."

The video spread on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads and TikTok. Nearly identical versions of the clip also appeared online.

However, the rumor that "The Simpsons" predicted Francis' death on April 21 was false. The videos spreading this claim appeared to be the products of artificial intelligence software, and no actual episode of the show included such a prediction. While one episode briefly referenced the death of a pope, it did so without naming anyone or providing specific details, such as a date.

Origin of the rumor

The most widely circulated version of the video originated from a TikTok video posted (archived) on Feb. 15, 2025 — one day after the pope was admitted to the hospital for bronchitis treatment on Feb. 14 and more than two months before his death on April 21.

@yellow..world Pope Francis' death in 2025? A disturbing prediction from The Simpsons #simpsons #simpsonspredictions #predictions #popefrancis #vatican #unitedstates #religion #bible #2025 #predictions ?? #usa #news #cnn ♬ transgender - <3

Its description read: "Pope Francis' death in 2025? A disturbing prediction from The Simpsons."

The video showed telltale signs that someone artificially created or generated it using AI software. It featured several visual inconsistencies, such as characters missing pupils and garbled text (see image below) as well as the synthetic, unnatural-sounding voice of the narrator.

(TikTok user @yellow..world)

The account that originally posted the video featured numerous videos that similarly appeared to be AI-generated, depicting fictional events in the style of "The Simpsons":

(X user @yellow..world)

Moreover, while social media posts claimed the video predicted the pope's death with exact accuracy, the content of the clip itself was less specific. The video mentioned only the year "2025" without citing a specific date. It also included the time "11:11," which did not align with official reports. According to the Vatican, Pope Francis was pronounced dead at 7:35 a.m. local time. 

According to the fan-run Wikisimpsons website, mention of a pope's death appeared in the first episode of Season 31, titled "The Winter of Our Monetized Content," which originally aired in September 2019.

Multiple transcriptions of the episode confirmed that it contained a line briefly referring to the death of an unnamed pope. Specifically, the show's news anchor character, Kent Brockman, delivered the line, "In other news, the pope has died," while sitting at a news desk, with a chyron reading "POPE DEAD" displayed on the screen. In the upper right, a graphic showed a crime scene outline shaped like a cartoon pope character, surrounded by "CRIME SCENE" tape and beer cans and bottles:

(YARN)

Finally, a Google search for "Simpsons," "pope" and "death" or "dead" returned no relevant results to support the rumor, further indicating that the alleged prediction lacked any verifiable source or basis in reality.

In April 2025, other fact-checking organizations, including Observador, Facta and PolitiFact, also debunked the rumor.

We've previously debunked several false claims about predictions that supposedly aired in episodes of "The Simpsons," including allegations that the show predicted the March 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and the release of the Apple Vision Pro.