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The Simpsons” writer comments on Kamala Harris predictions: “I’m proud
“The Simpsons” might have done it again – an episode of the show that aired in 2000 seemingly predicted even more details of what could soon be real-life events. In the flash-forward episode “Bart to the Future”, Lisa Simpson becomes president and wears a purple suit and pearls that are uncannily similar to what Kamala Harris – who is now running for president – wore when she was inaugurated as vice president.
Show screenwriter Al Jean touted the parallels on social media Sunday, shortly after Mr. Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
“@TheSimpsons ‘prediction’ I’m proud to be a part of,” Jean wrote, sharing side-by-side images of Lisa and Harris wearing the strikingly similar outfits.
Perhaps the eeriest part of the episode is that Lisa succeeds Donald Trump as president — the episode also famously foresaw a Trump presidency — while in real life, Harris would also be going up against the former president if she wins the Democratic nomination.
Getty/”The Simpsons”
The episode takes place in the year 2030, with Lisa describing herself as “America’s first straight female president,” who has inherited “quite a budget crunch from President Trump.” Dan Greaney, who wrote the episode, said in a 2016 interview that he conceived of the plotline as a “warning to America.”
Several other social media users over the weekend pointed to the latest parallel, with one person writing, “The Simpsons as Prophetic has become one of the most enduring mysteries of our times.”
Others called it “unnerving” and “freaky.”
Fox
In the past, fans have freaked out over the show’s all-too-accurate predictions of real-life events. In the “Simpsons Movie,” Tom Hanks plays an animated version of himself, joking that “the U.S. government has lost its credibility, so it’s borrowing some of mine.” Fans noticed parallels when Hanks was tapped to host an inauguration special called “Celebrating America,” playing a similar role to that of his spokesman-like character in “The Simpsons.”
In 2012, the show foreshadowed elements of Lady Gaga’s 2017 Super Bowl halftime show, right down to her sparkly outfit. It also predicted the outcome of the penultimate “Game of Thrones” episode when it parodied the show in 2017 – two years before that “GOT” episode aired.
“The Simpsons” has also foreseen technological developments such as phones that make video calls and virtual reality glasses that people become obsessed with. It has even predicted disasters such as a pandemic and a submersible trip gone wrong.
At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals and residents were urged to shelter in place on Tuesday after an explosion at a Louisville, Kentucky, business.
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services reported on social media a “hazardous materials incident” at 1901 Payne St., in Louisville. The address belongs to a facility operated by Givaudan Sense Colour, a manufacturer of food colorings for soft drinks and other products, according to officials and online records.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said emergency teams responded to the blast around 3 p.m. News outlets reported that neighbors heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the business. Overhead news video footage showed an industrial building with a large hole in its roof.
WLKY-TV
“The cause at this point of the explosion is unknown,” Greenberg said in a news conference. No one died in the explosion, he added.
Greenberg said officials spoke to employees inside the plant. “They have initially conveyed that everything was normal activity when the explosion occurred,” he said.
The Louisville Fire Department said in a post on the social platform X that multiple agencies were responding to a “large-scale incident.”
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services first urged people within a mile of the business to shelter in place, but that order was lifted in the afternoon. An evacuation order for the two surrounding blocks around the site of the explosion was still in place Tuesday afternoon.
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A rare square 37-carat emerald owned by the Aga Khan fetched nearly $9 million at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the world’s most expensive green stone.
Sold by Christie’s, the Cartier diamond and emerald brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, dethrones a piece of jewelry made by the fashion house Bulgari, which Richard Burton gave as a wedding gift to fellow actor Elizabeth Taylor, as the most precious emerald.
In 1960, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned Cartier to set the emerald in a brooch with 20 marquise-cut diamonds for British socialite Nina Dyer, to whom he was briefly married.
Dyer then auctioned off the emerald to raise money for animals in 1969.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
By chance that was Christie’s very first such sale in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the emerald finding its way back to the 110th edition this year.
It was bought by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels before passing a few years later into the hands of Harry Winston, nicknamed the “King of Diamonds.”
“Emeralds are hot right now, and this one ticks all the boxes,” said Christie’s EMEA Head of Jewellery Max Fawcett. “…We might see an emerald of this quality come up for sale once every five or six years.”
Also set with diamonds, the previous record-holder fetched $6.5 million at an auction of part of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor’s renowned jewelry collection in New York.
