Business

Did Eminem, Jelly Roll & Billie Eilish announce a 2026 tour titled "The Last Showdown?" No, that's not true: There is no proof that these artists announced this tour. There are no publicly available tickets or presale tickets on concert tickets websites. There is a new trend of AI generated posts about concerts that don't actually exist, featuring huge names…

Did country music legend George Strait reject a $500 million deal from Elon Musk to endorse Tesla? No, that's not true: This is a fake story designed to get people to click on a link to a website. This identical fake story, with the same fake quote, keeps getting recycled with different celebrity names attached. The fake story appeared in…

Was Arthur MacWaters fired as the Chief Marketing Officer of Cracker Barrel? No, that's not true: A viral social media post containing a fake LinkedIn screenshot showing several previous positions at companies involved in controversial rebranding efforts was meant as a joke. According to his real LinkedIn bio MacWaters never held the position. The claim appeared as a post on…

Does this video clip show Jon Stewart making "a savage reply to Trump's India tariff?" No, that's not true: The video clip posted on social media is not real. The video about Trump's India tariff was posted during the time when Stewart's "The Daily Show" was on summer break. The 28-second video appeared in a post on X (archived here)…

Does an image show a real screenshot of the "Governor Newsom Press Office" X account posting "Fuck you. Bye." in response to a statement from Bed Bath & Beyond Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis? No, that's not true: The screenshot is fake, no such post appeared on the account in question. The account did respond to the Bed Bath & Beyond…

Did Clark Hunt, the CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs, Ban LGBT Merchandise from Arrowhead Stadium? No, that's not true: There is no official announcement from the Chiefs on this question. The quote circulating on social media attributed to Hunt about "protecting the integrity of our fan experience," cannot be found in any public statements in writing or on camera.…

Does a video show evidence that dog food is being made with ground up cardboard as a main ingredient? No, that's not true: The video on social media features clips showing real scenes from several sources including dog food manufacturing plants and trash recycling facilities. There is no evidence the ground cardboard pulp shown in one clip is going into…

Did WNBA star Angel Reese call for a boycott of American Eagle over their jeans ad with Sydney Sweeney? No, that's not true: There is no record of Reese ever making such a statement about American Eagle or a boycott. The quote attributed to Reese in the post is also fabricated, as there is no publicly available evidence she ever…

Is the city of Los Angeles planning to convert a parking lot across from a high school in Encino into a camp for homeless people to live in 125 RVs? No, that's not true: The proposal to use a train station parking lot would provide temporary storage space for RVs after the homeless owners move off the street and into…

Does a viral social media video show a Ford electric car malfunctioning, with its steering locked and accelerator to the floor? No, that's not true: Lead Stories used geolocation techniques to find the scene of the accident and obtain a police report that a malfunction did not cause the wreck. California Highway Patrol said the driver was arrested for driving…

Does a viral clip prove that a real-life Ronald McDonald committed a series of 19th century child murders decades before becoming a fast-food chain's mascot? No, that's not true: The rumor originated from an account that labels its content as AI-generated. No credible news organizations reported the purported story before it began to circulate on social media platforms in August…

Did the Baltimore Ravens reject a $500 million sponsorship deal offered by Tesla or Elon Musk? No, that's not true: This is one of a series of clickbait fake news items falsely declaring Musk and/or Tesla is sinking millions into NFL teams like the Dallas Cowboys or New York Jets. Musk handles all PR for all his companies and has…

Has the Home Office, the Prime Minister or Parliament announced that starting September 1, 2025, UK banks will automatically flag to 'The Anti-Fraud Unit" any cash withdrawals in excess of 420 pounds, as social media posts claim? No, that's not true: No such program is part of the record of official proceedings. Neither have UK government leaders announced such a…

Did Tesla remotely deactivate rapper Big Huey's Cybertruck in August 2025? No, that's not true: The company denies it. The screen message, reading "return to dealer", is clear evidence of a hoax, since Teslas are not sold through dealerships. The "cease and desist letter" accompanying the purported deactivation showed an incorrect current title for Tesla's legal counsel. The claim appeared…

Does a video marked "Real Footage" show a bloody attack by a dolphin on a marine park trainer named Jessica Radcliffe? No, that's not true: The video caption and title both say the footage is real, but the account that published it describes its content as "Realistic AI visuals | Viral edits". Several glitches in the scene, such as people…

Did the WNBA issue a requirement mandating all its teams to use safety nets separating the courts from the viewers to protect players from sex toys thrown at them? No, that's not true: The rumor was initially posted by a self-described satire account. The picture from the entry that purportedly showed newly installed nets was digitally manipulated to add them.…

Did a California aquarium collapse, killing 50 people, as was claimed in a viral Instagram reel? No, that's not true: A disaster of that magnitude and novelty would have been a worldwide news story and there is no record of such an event in news publications in or out of California. The Instagram account that posted the video consists of…

Did a viral image show a real CNN report about tech billionaire Elon Musk being hospitalized on August 4, 2025? No, that's not true: Searches across Google and CNN produced zero confirmation that the network ever published such an article on its website. The account that spread the image on social media identified itself as a troll account. The claim…

Do Canadian researchers propose to mass-vaccinate people with crop duster-style spraying of the populace, as a social media post implies? No, that's not true: The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have paid researchers to develop a needle-free inhaler to inoculate people one at a time against the virus that causes COVID-19. The post that pushes the crop duster idea…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump post on Truth Social about "fat, ugly losers" criticizing the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad campaign? No, that's not true: The entry in question didn't appear on his profile or an archived version of it. A search of news archives yielded no entries that corroborated the purported remarks. The claim appeared in a post (archived…