Matt Groening talks ‘The Simpsons’ “predicting” real-world events: “We’re bound to get something right”

Matt Groening has discussed the phenomenon of The Simpsons seemingly predicting real-world events before they happen in a new interview.

Events such as Donald Trump becoming US President and Lady Gaga headlining the Super Bowl halftime show are among those to have been ‘predicted’ by the show over the years. 

Groening, the creator of the long-running animation, appeared on CBS Sunday Morning to discuss the show’s longevity. Now the longest-running American animated series and American sitcom, its 37th season began last month, and he explained that part of the reason why The Simpsons seems to accurately predict things is that there are simply so many episodes. 

“There are some things that we inadvertently predicted, and I think that comes from having done so many episodes that we’re bound to get something right,” Groening said. “And we’ve got to admit that the world right now is completely insane. So, any outlandish joke we make might end up coming true.”

Groening, who said in July that the show won’t end until Trump dies, isn’t the first person involved with the show to acknowledge the phenomenon. A year ago, showrunner Matt Selman gave a similar response to People. 

“Well, the sourpuss answer I always give that no one likes is that if you study history and math, it would be literally impossible for us not to predict things,” he said. “If you say enough things, some of them are going to overlap with reality, and then that’s the math element.”

A few months before that, Selman confirmed that the show didn’t predict the downfall of rap mogul Diddy, who was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this month after being found guilty on two counts of transportation for the purposes of prostitution. 

An image of Diddy animated as a Simpsons character went viral on social media, and he’s seen running from a group of police officers. It’s not actually from the show, however, with Selman explaining, “Any goofball can whip up an AI image based on a current event and say ‘The Simpsons predicted it!’ – and decent-but-easily-misled folks will believe it because they so very want it to be true.”

The Simpsons’ appears to have predicted Diddy’s current situation. In an old episode #diddy #SeanPuffyCombs #blocklegend7 #TheSimpsons #directorscut #thesimpsonspredictions #Episode #homersimpson #BartSimpson

♬ The Simpsons Theme – TV Theme Kings

Meanwhile, a sequel to The Simpsons Movie was announced last month. With a working title of The Simpsons 2, it’s set to be released on July 23, 2027.

Eagle-eyed fans have spotted another prediction about the sequel, too. Following the release of the first movie, the first episode of season 19 – which premiered later in 2007 – opened with Bart’s regular trademark gag. It saw him writing on the board, “I will not wait 20 years to make another movie.”

Indeed, The Simpsons 2 is set for release four days before the 20th anniversary of the first movie’s release but two days after the anniversary of its world premiere in Springfield, Vermont, on July 21, 2007.

One fan wrote online: “Anyone else have a part of them feel like Matt Groening and The Simpsons crew deliberately waited based on this gag from their first episode post-movie to finally release a second film?”