Famous illusionist Uri Geller has made several paranormal claims that go beyond simple spoon-bending: On many occasions he has proclaimed to be able to positively influence the outcomes of public events and the actions of people. As ridiculous as some of those claims sound - what if he has influence on public events, but this influence is (against his own will) actually negative? Think of one of the public events Geller tried his best to prevent, Brexit. What if he jinxed it? What if he jinxes it in general?
It's not hard to determine that Geller was unable to prevent Brexit, but proving he jinxed it would seem impossible. This is because Brexit is a singular, infinitely complex, event. However, perhaps if we look into a different field, to find a high number of more simple events that Geller tried to influence, maybe we can establish whether Geller jinxes it from a purely statistical perspective. Something like sport events.
I've previously written an account of the millionaire's short heyday as a ball whisperer, when he claimed he was able to influence the results of high profile association football matches. What few people know is that, as a big football fan, Geller would continue trying to assist dozens of teams with his psychic powers for at least two decades, both at club and national level, in many countries and both in top and lower leagues.
Years back, a study finally crunched numbers. From what I remember, the result was that, on average, the teams who publicly enlisted Geller's assistance ended up winning fewer points in their league matches than they had before asking him for help.
Geller's most recent claim regarding a major public event is, of course, related to COVID-19: He announced to make a prediction when the pandemic would end.
Please, Uri, don't jinx it.