Question

“The Simpsons” predicted Pope Francis’ 2025 death.

Answer 1

The claim that "The Simpsons predicted Pope Francis' death of 2025" is false. It originated on a TikTok AI-generated video that was circling different platforms.  These videos feature inconsistencies, such as distorted text and robotic narration, which indicate they were artificially created rather than actual clips from the show. While The Simpsons has made vague references to a pope dying in past episodes, none specifically mention Pope Francis or the year 2025

PolitiFact | No, ‘The Simpsons’ didn’t predict Pope Francis would die in 2025

Fact Check: Did 'The Simpsons' really predict Pope Francis' death? - MEAWW News

Comments

Great catch on the ai generated video! I like how you pointed out the signs of it being fake, like the robotic narration and distorted text. you could make your post even stronger by adding a link to an official list or data base of Simpsons episodes to show that none of them mention Pope Francis or the year 2025.

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great fact check I love how you mentioned it was ai generated because that was the first thing I acknowledged when I watched the video and also mentioning this debunking it immediately cause ai has validity. with clips not even from the show on the TikTok video.

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Thank you for the fact check around this topic! It really seemed real to me in the beginning. The sources you used are credible and provide the necessary information to prove this claim is false. It would help to maybe include the specific episode that the AI generated TikTok was based off of for reference.

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I appreciate the call-out of the AI video, especially since it came from TikTok, which is unfortunately where a lot of people get news these days. I also like the nugget about how the Simpsons has referenced a pope dying in the past as to not make the original poster feel attacked

Answer 2

There’s a claim going around that The Simpsons predicted Pope Francis would die in 2025, but that’s not true. The rumor started on TikTok, where a user named @edriansalas0 posted a video claiming the show made this prediction. But if you look into the account, it mostly shares dramatic or fake content and isn’t connected to The Simpsons or any real news source. Reputable fact-checkers like PolitiFact and Snopes both say the video isn’t from an actual episode—it was made using AI to look like the show. These kinds of fake videos have been popping up more on social media lately, and they’re easy to fall for if you don’t double-check. So no, The Simpsons didn’t predict the Pope’s death, and the original source of this idea seems to be those AI-edited TikTok clips trying to pass off fiction as fact.

Sources:

TikTok video: https://www.tiktok.com/@edriansalas0/video/7495690307334360338

PolitiFact: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/apr/22/tiktok-posts/simpsons-didnt-predict-pope-francis-would-die-2025/

Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-simpsons-pope-francis/

Yahoo News: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/fact-check-simpsons-did-not-183200436.html

Answer 3

The claim that the Simpsons predicted the death of Pope Francis is false as the claim was created by an AI video on TikTok. After looking further into the source PolitiFact states that the 2019 episode did not mention any specific details regarding the name of the pope, the year in which it happened, or the cause of death. The TikTok video was highly exaggerated and did not mention any of these points. The article states that the media has created many false claims about the Simpsons predicted major world events. The account that posted the video makes a random assortment of content with many of them being videos of drawings. This was a video to get more engagement and state a claim that would get people talking in the comments.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-simpsons-pope-francis/

https://api.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/apr/22/tiktok-posts/simpsons-didnt-predict-pope-francis-would-die-2025/

Answer 4

The claim of the Simpson predicting Pop[e Francis’ death in 2025 is false. The video is an AI generated video with no evidence that it was any sort of prediction. Even if the Simpson did predict the Pope’s death, there is no sort of evidence from the creators of the Simpson that it is a prediction especially because the Simpson is just a cartoon show with their main goal is to entertain the audience with their dark humor jokes.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/apr/22/tiktok-posts/simpsons-didnt-predict-pope-francis-would-die-2025/

Comments

I’d suggest digging a bit deeper than just stating the presence of AI—one reason people believe these kinds of predictions is because The Simpsons have made many eerie real-world parallels in the past, like the Trump presidency. You might strengthen your argument by referencing a few verified examples of these “predictions” and showing how they differ from the Pope example (e.g., satire vs. manipulated media). Also, the phrase “even if they did predict it” could be misread as leaving room for doubt. Since the Politifact article confirms it was generated with no basis in any actual episode, maybe just stick to the clear-cut debunk: no episode, no prediction. Overall good factcheck, just more to elaborate on and some things to simplify

Answer 5

The claim that The Simpsons predicted Pope Francis' death in 2025 is entirely false. This rumor originated from a satirical TikTok video that used AI-generated imagery to fabricate a scene mimicking the show's animation style, depicting a coffin in St. Peter’s Basilica and news anchor Kent Brockman announcing the pope's death. However, no such episode exists, and the video was not created by the show's producers. Fact-checking organizations, including PolitiFact and Snopes, have confirmed that the video is not from the show and was created using artificial intelligence tools. While The Simpsons has featured a character referred to as "the pope" in past episodes, none have specified Pope Francis by name or predicted his death in 2025. The only mention of a pope's death occurred in Season 31, Episode 1, which aired in 2019, where a brief news report states that "the pope has died," without naming the pope or providing details about the date or cause of death. This incident underscores the growing prevalence of AI-generated misinformation on social media platforms.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/apr/22/tiktok-posts/simpsons-didnt-predict-pope-francis-would-die-2025/ 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-simpsons-pope-francis/ 

Answer 6

The viral TikTok falsely claims that The Simpsons predicted Pope Francis’ death in a "little-known" episode showing a coffin at the Vatican and reporting his death at 11:11 from bronchitis. However, this claim is fake and the video is AI-generated and not from a real episode. While The Simpsons did depict a pope’s death once in 2019, it didn’t specify a name, date, or cause. Similar false claims have been made about the show predicting other major events, but many of them stem from satire or AI, not actual episodes.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/apr/22/tiktok-posts/simpsons-didnt-predict-pope-francis-would-die-2025/