'Simpsons' Showrunner Says Show Didn't Predict Diddy, Slams Viral Image as Fake

"The Simpsons" may have a reputation for making pop culture predictions that come to fruition, but in the case of Diddy's downfall, the Fox cartoon made no such prophecy.

The cartoon's showrunner, Matt Selman, explained it all to TMZ after an "AI fake" of Diddy drawn as a 'Simpsons' character fleeing cops in a pink suit made the rounds online.

The TV producer tells TMZ ... "In the current era of digital misinformation, The Simpsons 'predictions' (or, more accurately, 'coincidences') have become meaningless. Any goofball can whip up an AI image based on a current event and say 'The Simpsons predicted it!' — and decent-but-easily-misled folks will believe it because they so very want it to be true."

To be fair to those who were duped, the image was pretty convincing, especially since it featured a pink suit Diddy wore previously on the red carpet.

Matt blasted those using artificial intelligence to intentionally mislead the public ... but reminded fans it doesn't take much to authenticate an image.

MS also addressed the show's success at predicting key events in history -- including the Ebola outbreak, the "Game of Thrones" series finale, the Titanic submersible disaster, the Siegfried and Roy tiger attack, Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime show and Donald Trump's presidency.

According to Matt, the show's success rate at predicting the future comes down to 2 things ... history and math.

He explained ... "If you study history, you will be able to 'predict' the future because the foolishness of humanity repeats itself. If you study math, you will know that if the show makes literally tens of thousands of jokes about American society over almost 800 episodes, it would be statistically impossible not to create material that overlaps with what would later happen in real life."