'The Simpsons' did not predict collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

A bank failure was edited to substitute the name Silicon Valley Bank.

Reuters - (Updated to reflect Reuters independently verified “The Simpsons” episode that shows the ‘BS First Bank of Springfield.’)

A clip from a 1995 episode of “The Simpsons” animated series that shows the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) running out of money has been altered to claim that the show predicted the start-up focused bank’s collapse decades ahead of its time.

On March 10, SVB Financial Group became the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis, roiling global markets and leaving billions of dollars belonging to companies and investors stranded, Reuters reported (here) , (here).

Several posts shared the altered clip on Facebook (here), (here) and Twitter (here), with many user responses suggesting they believed it was authentic. 

But Reuters traced the extracted clip to an episode called “The PTA Disbands,” aired on April 16, 1995 (bit.ly/3Jjzygr).

In the video, panic ensues as character Burt Simpson announces to customers waiting at a bank “What do you mean the bank is out of money? Insolvent? You only have enough cash for the next three customers?” (See timestamp 0:04 – 0:10).

The bank in the original episode is the First Bank of Springfield, named after the fictitious town, where the show is set. A transcript of the episode calls the bank by the same name (here).

Reuters verified “The Simpsons” episode displayed the bank’s name as “BS First Springfield Bank”. The full episode is available on streaming platforms.

Reuters has previously fact-checked several other claims that falsely suggested “The Simpsons” predicted important world events (here), (here) and (here).

VERDICT

Altered. A 1990s episode of The Simpsons about a bank failure was edited to substitute the name Silicon Valley Bank instead of First Bank of Springfield.