Jane Goodall wanted to send Trump, Xi, other people she didn’t like into space

[Thiệu Ngô]

The quote went viral following Netflix's release of "Famous Last Words" in the wake of Goodall's death in early October.

By Joey Esposito

Claim:

Jane Goodall, famed conservationist and chimpanzee researcher, said in a posthumously released interview that she’d like to put Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Benjamin Netanyahu “on one of Musk's spaceships and send them all off to the planet he's sure he's going to discover.”

Rating: Correct Attribution

Following the death of world-renowned chimpanzee researcher and conservationist Jane Goodall in October 2025, claims that the scientist declared in a posthumously released interview she'd like to send particular world leaders into space circulated online.

The Associated Press (AP) reported Goodall's death at age 91 on Oct. 1, 2025.

Users on social media platforms like X (archived), Instagram (archived) and Facebook (archived) shared a purported clip of the statement, in which Goodall is seated across from an interviewer and said, "Absolutely there are people I don't like. And I would like to put them on one of Musk's spaceships and send them all off to the planet he's sure he's going to discover."

The viral nature of the purported clip inspired readers to flood the Snopes email inbox, asking us to verify its authenticity.

In the clip, Goodall goes on to specifically name U.S. President Donald Trump, Tesla co-founder Elon Musk, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The quote is correctly attributed to Goodall and was featured in the premiere episode of the Netflix series "Famous Last Words," which debuted on Oct. 3, 2025, days after her death.

The premise is based on a Danish TV format, according to Netflix, in which a subject is interviewed in secret with the understanding the footage will not be released until after the person dies.

In a post on its Tudum blog, Netflix explained the interview was conducted in March 2025 with only interviewer Brad Falchuck and Goodall present. The blog stated, "the footage was securely held until she died, unedited, so that nobody outside the pair would know the contents until now."

The clip in question begins around the 15-minute mark of "Famous Last Words," viewable on Netflix, as Goodall discussed how becoming a celebrity scientist caused her to realize she had been put on Earth with a particular mission.

This was the full context of the quote in question:

BRAD FALCHUK: You're always on mission.

JANE GOODALL: I'm always on mission, yeah. Even when I'm really tired. I mean, that's what I'm on this planet for. I truly believe that.

FALCHUK: And I think it's important as people turn to you to say, "What's the fight? Where's the battle? Where should we look? What should we do?" Identifying who the people who... who the battle is against, I think it's important. Do you have people that you don't like?

GOODALL: Absolutely there are people I don't like. And I would like to put them on one of Musk's spaceships and send them all off to the planet he's sure he's going to discover.

FALCHUK: Would he be... would he be one of them?

GOODALL: Oh, absolutely. He'd be the host. And you can imagine who I'd put on that spaceship.

FALCHUK: Who?

GOODALL: Along with Musk would be Trump. And some of Trump's real supporters. And then I would put Putin in there. And I would put President Xi. I'd certainly put Netanyahu in there and his far-right government. Put them all on that spaceship and send them off.

FALCHUK: These men seem like not the alpha chimp. They think they are, but it seems that their behavior is not—

GOODALL: Well, we get, interestingly, two types of alpha. One does it all by aggression. And because they're strong and they fight, they don't last very long. Others do it by using their brains, like a young male will only challenge a higher-ranking one if his friend, often his brother, is with him. And, you know, they last much, much longer.