The Simpsons writer explains truth behind predicting 9/11 …
Former writer for The Simpsons Josh Weinstein, who also previously served as the sitcom’s co-showrunner, has shed light on the supposed 9/11 conspiracy theory on the show.
Over the years, the globally-beloved animated series has gained quite the reputation for seemingly predicting real-life events, including Donald Trump running for the US Presidency in 2024 and Disney’s merger with Fox.
However, one that is cited the most is undoubtedly the ‘prediction’ of 9/11, the terrorist attacks that took place in New York at the World Trade Center when two planes crashed into the Twin Towers on September 11 2001.
In a season nine episode titled The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, which came out in 1997, Lisa holds up a brochure for a $9 bus fare, which shows the World Trade Center in the background, with the price of the ticket and the Twin Towers spelling out the numbers ‘9 1 1’.
Josh, who was a consulting producer on the season following his departure as showrunner, was recently asked about the coincidence on Twitter.
‘Anytime conspiracy theories based on the belief that the show predicted the future?’ a fan asked, alongside pictures of the $9 bus fare and the prediction of the Disney and Fox deal.
‘I can tell you the unfortunate 9/11 one was strictly because 9 dollars seemed like the funniest low bus fare and we wanted the World Trade Center buildings in the ad because that’s where the story took place. Totally, totally a coincidence,’ he clarified.
Nonetheless, he added that the Fox and Disney prediction ‘seems prescient’, considering the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was completed in March 2019.
Josh was addressing a variety of fan questions when he made the clarification, also shedding light on a significant voice blunder that occurred at another point on the sitcom.
In an episode from season two called Brush With Greatness, a scene where Carl is speaking mistakenly saw his best friend Lenny’s voice come out of his mouth.
Bringing up the gaffe, a Twitter user wrote: ‘In this episode, Karl speaks but you hear Lenny’s voice? Was this a mistake or intentional?’
‘Wow, that’s clearly just a mistake. It’s an early episode (Brush With Greatness) I wonder if they caught it originally?’ Josh wondered.
‘Most likely not, cause it could’ve been fixed right up to final mix simply by redubbing Carl correctly. Maybe Lenny and Carl hadn’t appeared enough to notice?’
The Simpsons is available to stream on Disney Plus.
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