Topline
The adrenochrome conspiracy, a bizarre theory with antisemitic roots, posits that Satan-worshipping global and Hollywood elites run a massive child trafficking ring to drain their blood and harvest the chemical adrenochrome to stay young, and has been embraced by subscribers of the QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy movements, including key people affiliated with the recent hit movie The Sound of Freedom.
Protester holds a "no more adrenochrome" sign at a St. Paul, Minnesota Save Our Children rally. ... [+]
Key Facts
The baseless adrenochrome theory has been debunked numerous times by media outlets and scientific communities, who have noted the chemical, produced by oxidizing adrenaline, has no rejuvenating effects.
The theory is promoted by followers of QAnon, the conspiracy movement that promotes the false idea that Satanic Hollywood stars and political elites run the world and have organized a child sex trafficking ring.
QAnon adherents have alleged top Democrats like the Clintons and Obamas, celebrities like Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey, and billionaires like George Soros, are among the elites behind the conspiracy.
The adrenochrome theory has developed on social media over the past decade but spiked in 2020, primarily because of the Covid-19 lockdown in which celebrities posted pictures and videos of themselves from home, not looking glammed up as usual, leading conspiracy theorists to allege these celebrities were suffering from “adrenochrome withdrawals.”
The adrenochrome theory has roots in centuries-old antisemitic tropes, namely blood libel, the myth that Jews use the blood of Christian and non-Jewish children in rituals, which has historically been used as justification to imprison and torture Jews and was an element of Nazi propaganda.
Early scientific studies on adrenochrome date back to 1950s research conducted by Canadian psychiatrists Abram Hoffer and Humphry Osmond, who hypothesized schizophrenia may be caused by an adrenochrome buildup, but their claims that niacin and vitamin C could treat schizophrenia patients by preventing adrenochrome oxidization were not supported by later studies conducted by others.
Key Background
Adrenochrome entered modern popular culture with Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and its 1998 film adaptation, both of which contain a scene depicting adrenochrome as a psychedelic extracted from humans. A clip of the adrenochrome extraction scene has garnered more than 3 million views on YouTube, with some comments linking the scene to the adrenochrome conspiracy theory. Like other modern conspiracy theories, the adrenochrome blood harvesting theory has proliferated on social media. Some of the earliest known posts about the adrenochrome theory date back to 2013 on 4chan, the controversial social platform that also served as the birthplace of the QAnon movement. Some posts and videos shared on 4chan claiming to serve as evidence of the adrenochrome theory were explicitly antisemitic, invoking the blood harvesting as a Jewish ritual. As the Pizzagate conspiracy theory—which falsely alleged the Clintons and other Democrats used a pizzeria in Washington, D.C., as a location for child sex trafficking—picked up steam in 2015 and 2016, and the QAnon movement emerged in 2017, these theories adopted the adrenochrome theory on 4chan, Wired reported. Adrenochrome theories continue to run rampant on social media, including a bizarre claim that the children’s film, Monsters, Inc., in which the monsters extract screams from children for energy, is an allegory for adrenochrome harvesting. Some social platforms have taken measures to curb the spread of the theory: Reddit banned the r/adrenochrome subreddit in 2020, and Amazon has removed some books about the adrenochrome theory, the Daily Beast reported. Searches of “adrenchrome” on Twitter, however, still yield plenty of results promoting the conspiracy.
News Peg
Internet searches for adrenochrome are trending upwards as of the first week of July, reaching the highest level of interest on Google since August 2020, according to Google Trends. Some recent notable proponents of the adrenochrome theory include former government agent Tim Ballard and actor Jim Caviezel, both of whom are linked to the box office hit, The Sound of Freedom. Though Angel Studios, the film’s distributor, denies any connection to conspiracy theories or politics, both Ballard and Caviezel have defended the adrenochrome harvesting theory in recent interviews. Ballard, the founder of anti-child sex trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad who is portrayed by Caviezel in the film, claimed in an interview with conservative commentator Jordan Peterson last week the adrenochrome harvesting theory is real and taking place in parts of Africa. Caviezel, who has spoken at several QAnon events, defended the adrenochrome theory on the right-wing podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, on July 11, stating the compound is extracted after “torturing little children.”
Crucial Quote
“Adrenochrome, which has no rejuvenating effects, and very questionable psychedelic properties, would have long faded into obscurity had it not been rejuvenated by the QAnon twaddle,” McGill University’s Office for Science and Society director Joe Schwarcz wrote, adding that claims that live humans must be used for adrenochrome extraction are false as the compound can be synthesized by researchers for research purposes.
Surprising Fact
Some conspiracy theorists spread the false claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin destroyed adrenochrome plants in Ukraine and intercepted shipments of adrenochrome heading toward the United States amid the Russia-Ukraine war. The falsehoods were posted on Real Raw News, which claims to be a satirical outlet, though PolitiFact, which debunked its claims about Putin, noted the author regularly defends his stories as truth. And the false claims were spread quickly on social media.
Further Reading
The Dark Virality of a Hollywood Blood-Harvesting Conspiracy (Wired)
How QAnon Became Obsessed With ‘Adrenochrome,’ an Imaginary Drug Hollywood Is ‘Harvesting’ from Kids (The Daily Beast)
QAnon’s Adrenochrome Quackery (McGill University)
