False: Dwayne Johnson, Steven Spielberg, and other celebrities eat babies and use adrenochrome.

Context

A post on Facebook with over 170k views and 2k likes shows a video that claims that Dwayne Johnson, Steven Spielberg, and Bruce Willis, along with other celebrities, eat babies and harvest adrenochrome. Comments on the post suggest that users believe the claims. The source of the post is a well-known conspiracy channel that posts anti-vaccine content.

In Fact

There is no evidence that celebrities are part of a cult that eats babies or tortures children. There is no evidence of a group of elites harvesting and drinking adrenochrome. These claims are a known conspiracy theory connected to antisemitism and QAnon.

The video claims that Sumner Redstone, an American billionaire, maintained his youth by drinking adrenochrome. It then claims other celebrities that have been pictured with Sumner Redstone are also involved in the consumption of adrenochrome. Other celebrities mentioned in the video include Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Steven Spielberg, and the Clinton family. There is no evidence that Sumner Redstone or any others mentioned in the video have engaged in a child-torturing cult. The video does not provide any tangible evidence to support its claims beyond loose associations and jokes from celebrity interviews. 

As explored in a 2020 feature by Wired, the adrenochrome conspiracy supports the idea that global elites torture and traffic children to harvest adrenochrome from their blood, which they then consume to stay young and healthy. Adrenochrome is a topic widely perpetuated among QAnon communities who often "expose" those that allegedly use adrenochrome. The conspiracy frequently targets Hollywood, the music industry, and other influential sectors, claiming that celebrities and movie stars engage in the torture, trafficking, and consumption of children. There are no historical accounts of this practice occurring among secret groups at any time or of a secret "market" for adrenochrome. 

Adrenochrome is a real substance. However, it is not harvested from blood nor grants youth or health benefits, as the conspiracy suggests. As explained in a 2022 article by McGill University, adrenochrome can be synthesized in a lab through the oxidation of adrenaline and is a substance available to researchers from chemical suppliers. Additionally, the adrenochrome conspiracy itself is tied to antisemitism. As mentioned by Wired, the modern adrenochrome conspiracy is an adapted version of the blood libel myth which spread through medieval Europe, claiming that Jews secretly fed on the blood of children.

The Verdict

No evidence has ever surfaced to support claims that adrenochrome is harvested from trafficked children, and the claims that celebrities consume adrenochrome from tortured children are baseless and unsubstantiated. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.