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.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
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 online 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. His vast conspiracies also include many connected with Trump, as well as claims that the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are false distinctions, with those in power secretly working together.
Azzarello mentions the starting event in his own 'investigation' as billionaire Peter Thiel’s involvement with a bank run on Silicon Valley Bank, which he found suspicious. He connects that with cryptocurrency, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, COVID-19, pro wrestling and more. Azzarello mixes several facts together while hinting at citing details that would support the conspiracy he alleges.
He describes cryptocurrency itself as a Ponzi scheme, which many mainstream observers would agree with, given its apparent lack of strong real-world applications outside of its use by criminals. But Azzarello takes that further, claiming that the currency was “expressly created” to serve as a “planetary multi-trillion-dollar Ponzi scheme” and attributes it to rich and powerful people who graduated from or are otherwise connected with Stanford and — bringing us back to “The Simpsons” — Harvard.
The creator of cryptocurrency remains anonymous and unknown, but there has been little evidence to date connecting it with those Azzarello cites.
Azzarello spends a good portion of his note delving into specific episodes of “The Simpsons,” including “Marge vs. The Monorail” and “Lisa the Iconoclast.”
Regarding the famous monorail episode, notably written by Harvard grad and late-night icon Conan O’Brien, he points to the Simpsons’ town of Springfield falling victim to Lyle Lanley and his monorail scheme. Interested in the idea of Ponzi schemes, Azzarello labels Lanley’s scam “a bogus monorail Ponzi scheme.”
Ponzi schemes involve using the profits from later investors to pay back those who invested early, known to be a scheme that is difficult to sustain long-term. Lanley’s plan in the episode doesn’t appear to be a fit with the traditional interpretation of Ponzi schemes, as his plan involved taking money from towns but delivering shoddy, poorly staffed monorail systems.
Using his initial claim to justify this assertion, Azzarello writes, “When we know that the show is closely linked to an organization that invests billions of dollars in Ponzi factories, this becomes quite damning.” It’s unclear how making an audience aware of the danger of conmen would actually make them more susceptible to said scam artists.
The other episode specifically cited, “Lisa the Iconoclast,” he notes that it reveals town founder Jebediah Springfield as another con artist, leading to the town’s people believing in a lie. Azzarello notes that, when Lisa Simpson discovers this, she tries to get people to believe her but fails to break through.
“Ultimately, she realizes the town is so far gone that perhaps it’s better for them to be lied to by con artists, and she keeps the secret to herself,” Azzarello writes.
At this point, he connects himself with Lisa, noting that he’s been trying to get friends, family and the wider public to believe his own theories. He writes that this all leads to “the criminal truth of The Simpsons: Our elites are telling us that our eroding collective circumstances are our own fault, and we can’t do anything about it, while they steal the American Dream from us. It is, for lack of a more elegant word, brainwashing.
Once again, telling people about problems doesn't seem like a very effective way to make them accept the problems, believe that there is nothing behind them, and prevent them from resisting.
He also links other pop culture to the conspiracy, including Matt Groening's “Life Is Hell” comic strips, which he also mentions on Instagram. sharing these conspiracy theories on Instagram, the Beatles, movies like “Do the Right Thing” and “Chinatown,” and many others. He draws extreme conclusions from the messages of these artworks, as noted by online users on social media.
Azzarello previously wrote at length about his beliefs related to “Simpsons” in a post published in November 2023 simply titled, “How The Simpsons Brainwashed Us.” He explores what he sees as hidden messages in other episodes of the show, including “And Maggie Makes Three” and the plaque given by Mr. Burns to Homer Simpsons which reads, “Don’t forget: You’re here forever.” Azzarello acknowledges that many view Homer putting photos of baby Maggie over the sign to change its message to “Do it for her” as deeply moving, but in Azzarello's view, this is just a tactic to convince viewers that they “have no choice but to work for evil billionaires for the rest of our lives. And what is our great resistance? We get to put pictures at our cubicles.”
He connects this with the German slogan “work sets you free,” posted at Nazi concentration camps. Other episodes he sees as part of these conspiracies include “The Computer Wore Menace Shoes,” “The Simpsons Movie,” and the online meme of the Simpsons predicting world events. In his pamphlet about his ideas, he also mentioned the repetition of “Lisa needs braces/Dental plan,” which he describes as a “common, well-known refrain” that he argues is being used to tell the broader public they need to worry about these things.
That post is dedicated to Phil Hartman and his wife Brynn — whose deaths he believes are yet another conspiracy.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
