Max Azzarello pointed to « Marge vs. the Monorail » and other « The Simpsons » episodes he believed were propaganda by Harvard grads.
The man who set himself on fire outside Donald Trump’s trial in Manhattan, Max Azzarello, appears to have left behind a Substack, titled “The Ponzi Papers,” that points to a variety of interconnected conspiracy theories — including a complex one involving “The Simpsons.” He even cites specific episodes. Azzarello wrote that drawing attention to these ideas is why he decided to do what he did Friday — lighting himself on fire. At press time, he was reportedly alive in the Cornell University burn unit, but in critical condition.
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Among other outlandish allegations made in the manifesto of his final post, titled “I have set myself on fire outside the Trump Trial,” he argues that Harvard University is an organized crime front. He connects that with “The Simpsons” due to the large number of Harvard graduates used to staff the show’s writers’ room.
Azzarello wrote, “So I asked myself the question: If The Simpsons served the interests of organized crime, how would it do so?”
The evidence he points to is that it presents “a dysfunctional family suffering from moral decay, a community incapable of solving its problems, a worker drone who slaves away for an evil billionaire, and cathartic laughs for our poor collective circumstances.”
Few would argue that this is not, in fact, a somewhat accurate description of the show and the source of much of its humor. But citing criminal motivations as being the reason for the show’s approach isn’t something Azzarello seems interested in providing evidence for.
Showing that he at least knows how his ideas sound, he writes, “These claims sound like fantastical conspiracy theory, but they are not. They are proof of conspiracy.” He adds that once you learn in-depth about Ponzi schemes, “You will discover that our life is a lie.” Those concerns for his own state of mind go back as far as his first post from April 2023, in which he wrote, “You would do well to question my sanity, just as I have.”
Azzarello’s Substack includes photos of pamphlets he’d published to spread his ideas — the NYPD noted that Azzarello had thrown pamphlets out before lighting himself on fire. The pamphlet published onlineh also includes a section titled “The Simpsons is Evil Brainwashing” claiming the show is made for Harvard graduates to “serve their criminal interests through popular media.”
The goal, Azzarello writes, is: “Tell us the American Dream is dead because we’re too oafish, divided, and morally decayed while big business and government bleed us dry.”
In his manifesto, he calls out “post-truth America,” an idea which has been connected with former President Trump, which may indicate part of why he chose the setting for lighting himself on fire that he did.
