Seth Dillon, the CEO of the satirical right-wing Babylon Bee, told Fox News that nearly 100 of their jokes have turned into real news stories after publication.

JUPITER, Fla. – The Babylon Bee has had nearly 100 joke headlines turn into prophecies after the stories eventually came true, the CEO of America’s largest right-leaning satire website told Fox News.

“The problem isn’t that our satire is too close to reality,” Seth Dillon told Fox News. “It’s that reality is too close to satire, so our jokes keep coming true.”

The Bee maintains a running list of its satirical headlines that became real — or at least partially real — stories after publication. The fulfilled prophecies include a wide range of topics and include jokes about Democrats and Republicans alike.

NEARLY 100 BABYLON BEE PUNCHLINES WERE FULFILLED PROPHECIES

“So we have a spreadsheet of nearly 100 jokes now that we’ve tracked,” he said. “They were fulfilled like prophecies instead of punch lines.”

The Bee published one article, “To Improve Public Perception, Kamala Harris Taking Likability Lessons From Hillary Clinton,” in July 2021. A month later, Axios reported that a former Clinton advisor hosted a dinner with prominent Democratic women — including Clinton’s former spokeswoman — to discuss how to defend Vice President Kamala Harris from bad press.

“Who would take likability lessons from Hillary Clinton?” Dillon asked. “But then a month later, there’s a real story that [Harris’] staff reached out to Hillary’s staff to make her more likable.”

“We even did one about how Trump had claimed to have done more for Christianity than Jesus himself and that one went crazy viral,” Dillon said.

In 2021, then-President Trump said during an interview that “nobody has done more for Christianity or for evangelicals or for religion itself than I have.”

Dillon said the Bee’s 2019 article, “Trump: ‘I Have Done More For Christianity Than Jesus,'” was fact-checked and rated false.

“And then two years later, he actually said it,” Dillon told Fox News. “He said he’s done more for Christianity than anyone else in history. In fact, he’s done more for religion than anyone else in history.”

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon talks to Fox News about the many jokes the website made that later became reality. (Fox News Digital)

In September 2022, the Bee joked about the economy with the headline, “9 Reasons Not To Worry About The Tanking Economy.” Just two days later, the Washington Post published the headline “7 ways a recession could be good for you financially.” 

Dillon added that sometimes it’s hard for his writers to come up with satire because the real news headlines already read like jokes.

“There are all the time stories that come across the screen that are just incredibly outrageous,” he said “You know you wouldn’t believe that they’re true, and we have to do a double take and see, is this parody, is this a real story?”

“We’re living in really crazy, insane times,” he added. “So, yes, there are plenty of times where we pull up a headline, and we’re just baffled by it.”

On Feb. 3, 2023, the Bee posted the headline “Biden Says He’ll Shoot Down Chinese Spy Balloon As Soon As He’s Done Letting It Spy.” One day later, Biden announced that the balloon was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean after it finished crossing the United States, arguing that he waited so debris wouldn’t fall on civilians.

The Babylon Bee joked that President Biden wouldn’t shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon until it was done spying. Then the president announced that the ballon was struck after it crossed the country. (Chad Fish via AP)

“We did show a joke during the pandemic about how pants sales were plummeting because everyone was working from home,” Dillon said, citing a March 2020 example. “And it was this picture of a guy sitting there in his pink boxers, but he’s got a nice dress shirt on, like at his desk.”

“The very next day, there was a story about how Walmart was seeing increased sales of tops, but not bottoms,” he continued.

Dillon bought the Bee in 2018 when it was a small blog. He first encountered it two years earlier when a friend shared the headline “Holy Spirit Unable To Move Through Congregation As Fog Machine Breaks.” 

“It was a funny inside joke that you get if you know the church world, which I did because my dad is a pastor,” Dillon he. “They were inside jokes that were funny and witty, and it wasn’t cheesy comedy.”

According to Dillon, the Bee gets 25 million page views a month, has tens of thousands of paid subscribers and over a million YouTube subscribers. 

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon spoke to Fox News Digital from CPAC Texas 2022 in Dallas.  (Fox News Digital/Joseph Wulfsohn)

Dillon said Bee fans often share non-satirical, outrageous headlines on Twitter with the hashtag “#NotTheBee.” It sparked an idea to launch a new website in 2020 that covers real news that reads like satire called “Not the Bee.”

“You know, there needed to be a site dedicated to just covering these specific insane stories that should be satire but somehow aren’t,” he said.

Click here to learn more about Babylon Bee’s fulfilled prophecies.

Kassy Dillon is a reporter for Digital Originals. You can reach her at kassy.dillon@fox.com and follow her on Twitter at @kassydillon.

One of Chris Rock‘s jokes about Will Smith has reportedly been edited out of his Netflix special, after he messed it up during the live broadcast.

The comic had used his live show to break his silence on being slapped by the actor at the Academy Awards in March, issuing a series of stinging rebukes at Will and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith.

But, after Chris admitted he ‘f****d up’ a joke about Will’s recent film Concussion, eagle-eyed fans have noticed the joke has been removed from the final cut of the special.

The programme was originally broadcast live on Netflix on Friday, the first time a streaming service had done so. 

It’s been reported that Will is ’embarrassed and hurt’ by Chris’ deicison to base his Netflix special on their clash, and is keen for him to ‘let it go.’

Gone! One of Chris Rock’s jokes about Will Smith has reportedly been edited out of his Netflix special, after he messed it up during the live broadcast

Oops! After Chris admitted he ‘f****d up’ a joke about Will’s recent film Concussion, eagle-eyed fans have noticed the joke has been removed from the final cut of the special

In his special, Chris discussed the slap in a stinging monologue, claiming Jada was the one who ‘started this’ as he argued she said he should ‘quit the Oscars’.

Chris added that Jada called for him to quit because Will hadn’t been nominated for the film Concussion.

However, Chris got the title of Will’s film wrong, and had to correct himself before admitting to the crowd he’d blundered the joke.

He said: ‘Years ago, his wife said I should quit the Oscars. I shouldn’t host ’cause her man didn’t get nominated for Emancipation.

‘The biggest piece of s**t ever. Okay, so the n****r gives me a f***ing concussion. No, not Emancipation, I f****d up the joke. Concussion.’

Fans were quick to notice that when the special is watched now, Chris joke is delivered with the right film title, and his apology for messing it up has been removed.

One tweeted: ‘Feel so bad for Chris Rock. He waited a year to get his revenge against his bully and wrote an AMAZING final 10 minutes to his live special… then fumbled the last joke delivery on Concussion/Emancipation. Still spectacular of course but could’ve been out of this world.’ 

Another added: ‘Chris Rock really did have a year to practice that Will Smith concussion joke and choked on stage.’

Look! Fans were quick to notice that when the special is watched now, Chris joke is delivered with the right film title, and his apology for messing it up has been removed

Incensed: Will is said to be ’embarrassed and hurt’ by Chris’ decision to base a new Netflix special on their notorious clash

One fan also tweeted: ‘Chris Rock really botched that Concussion/Emancipation joke.’

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Netflix for comment. 

Will is said to be ’embarrassed and hurt’ by Chris Rock‘s decision to base a new Netflix special on their Oscars clash last year.

The pair made ceremonial history for the wrong reasons after Smith marched onstage and slapped Rock across the face for making a joke about wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia. 

Smith has since been punished with a 10-year ban from the awards ceremony, while Rock – who was presenting at the event in 2022 – has used the incident as source material for his new stand-up show. 

Appearing at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore – ironically the city of Pinkett-Smith’s birth – Rock, 58, has debuted a series of stinging rebukes aimed the married couple, among them a comedic monologue inspired by her extra-marital affair with singer August Alsina. 

Sources have since told Entertainment Tonight that Smith has been deeply affected by the Netflix special, and is keen for Rock to ‘let it go.’ 

While reportedly hurt and embarrassed by Selective Outrage, the outlet claims Smith is yet to actually watch it and has instead been informed of its content from those who have. 

Rock has accused the Oscar-winner of having ‘selective outrage’ during the show’s finale and added salt to the wound by rehashing Pinkett-Smith’s well documented infidelity. 

‘Chris never got a one-on-one private apology from Will, only the public one which really meant nothing,’ a source close to the comedian insisted. In fact, Will has only addressed the situation twice – once on Instagram the day after the Oscars and once in a video apology.

But the insider insisted that Rock’s decision to rehash the scandal in his Netflix show had nothing to do with seeking revenge, but was rather a way for the comedian to ‘get it all out’ and ‘be done with it’.

‘Chris wanted to get this out once and for all and be done with it. This was very cathartic to him,’ the source added.

The comedian certainly didn’t hold back when it came to dredging up the slapgate scandal on stage.

Instead, he doubled down on his attack on the A-list couple by bringing up Pinkett-Smith’s admitted affair with her son Jaden’s close friend, musician August Alsini, in 2020.

To a shocked audience, both live and on location, Rock said that Smith had misdirected anger due to the fact that ‘his wife was f***ing her son’s friend.’

Rock’s rant has since been applauded on social media as ‘the perfect/best way’ to get back at Smith for the moment that changed both of their careers. 

The comedian made audience members and live viewers wait until the last ten minutes of ‘Chris Rock: Selective Outrage’ before he addressed the slap. 

‘You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith,’ the comedian joked. Rock said: ‘It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.’

Bringing Jada up in the show, he addressed her affair and his frustration that he was the one who ‘bore the brunt’ of the couple’s marital troubles.

‘Will Smith practices selective outrage,’ Rock said, giving a nod to the special’s title.

‘Everybody that really knows knows I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t have any entanglements…She hurt him way more than he hurt me.’

The slap occurred last year after Rock made a joke about Pinkett-Smith’s bald head, caused by alopecia. 

Rock had joked that Pinkett-Smith was rocking a ‘G.I. Jane’ look which caused her husband to storm the stage and slap him, followed by him repeating: ‘Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!’

During his new standup special, Rock joked about his struggle in the year since. 

‘Anybody that say “words hurt” has never been punched in the face,’ he said. 

‘But I’m not a victim, baby. You’ll never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying,’ Rock said. He joked that he ‘took that s**t like [Manny] Pacquaio.’

The crowd in the audience laughed out loud while those at home took to social media to give their thoughts. 

And to add insult to injury, his humiliating blowback aired exactly one week before the the 2023 Oscars are set to take place on March 12 – an event that Smith has been banned from attending for the next ten years as a result of his violent outburst at last year’s ceremony.

The infamous slap occurred in March 2022 when Rock took the stage to present an Oscar for best documentary feature. 

Turning to the Smith’s, he said that he was ‘looking forward’ to seeing Pinkett-Smith in G.I. Jane, poking fun at her shaved head.

Smith immediately got up on stage and slapped Chris in the side of his head. After returning to his front row seat, he yelled, ‘Keep my wife’s mother f***ing name out your mouth.’

Controversy: The pair made history for the wrong reasons after Smith marched onstage and slapped Rock across the face for making a joke about wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia 

In the weeks that followed, the actor was forced to resign from the Academy, which subsequently banned him for 10 years.

During his Saturday night standup special, Rock shared his afterthoughts, telling the audience: ‘Anybody that say words hurt has never been punched in the face. But I’m not a victim, baby. You’ll never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying.

‘Everybody called him a b**ch, and who’s he hitting? Me. You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith,’ he joked. ‘It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.’

Rock then addressed why he didn’t hit Will back, saying: ‘You know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.’

Ben Affleck has shared the hilarious reason why he never wants to be photographed with hunky Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth.

In an interview with Insider,  the 50-year-old revealed his plans to visit Australia but joked he doesn’t want to be pictured with Chris unlike his best friend Matt Damon, who is regularly seen with the Thor star.

‘Matt’s basically, as far as I can tell, an honorary citizen he is there so much – he’s friends with Chris Hemsworth and I think that shows enormous character of Matt to be friends with a guy that much younger and better looking than him,’ Ben joked.

‘Good in practice – but I don’t want to sit next to Chris Hemsworth in photographs so I applaud Matt.’

‘But I’d love to come. I’m hoping one day Chris will invite me to come down and stay at his place, as long as I don’t have to take any shirtless pictures next to him.’

Ben Affleck (pictured) has shared the hilarious reason why he never wants to be seen with Chris Hemsworth as he reveals plans to travel to Australia

Matt spent six months living in Byron Bay while filming Thor: Love and Thunder and was regularly photographed spending time with Chris, 39, and his wife Elsa Pataky.

Chris, Elsa and their three children reside in a $30million mansion in Broken Head, near the celebrity enclave of Byron Bay.

The fortress like property, which sits high above Seven Mile Beach, boasts a gymnasium, butler’s pantry, fire pit, change rooms, outdoor play area for the three Hemsworth children and walk-in wardrobes.

Angry neighbours were quick to say the building reminded them of a suburban shopping centre, a refurbished RSL club or a regional airport terminal.

Others compared it to a multi-storey car park.

In an interview with Inside , the 50-year-old revealed his plans to visit Australia but joked he doesn’t want to be pictured with Chris (pictured) unlike his friend Matt Damon, who is regularly seen with the Thor star

Meanwhile, Matt and Ben have been the best of friends since they were kids growing up in Boston.

They joined forces to co-write the script for drama Good Will Hunting which earned them the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1998.

They are also co-stars in upcoming movie Air, which is set to be released on April 5. 

‘Matt’s basically, as far as I can tell, an honorary citizen he is there so much – he’s friends with Chris Hemsworth and I think that shows enormous character of Matt to be friends with a guy that much younger and better looking than him,’ Ben joked. Pictured Ben and Matt Damon

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Ben Affleck shares hilarious reason why he never wants to be seen with Chris Hemsworth