Are social media posts saying that dozens of artists, including Bad Bunny, Barbra Streisand, and Barry Manilow, are "set to take over the 2026 World Cup Opening Stage" real? No, that's not true: The false claims originate from AI-generated articles and posts created by a spam operation managed from Vietnam. Fake fan pages are used to target North American and…

Does a real video show Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ignoring and walking away from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the incident portrayed in the clip ever took place. An AI detection tool also found that "the video is likely AI-generated" after assessing the content. The claim…

Did Canadian-American actor Seth Rogen die in April 2026? No, that's not true: There were no actual news reports about Rogen being dead. The rumor first appeared on Reddit after the actor's fictional on-screen death in an episode of "The Boys" and was then taken up by social media accounts and obscure websites. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Did President Donald Trump make a social media post calling a "60 Minutes" correspondent "Nora O'dumble," "dirty" and "nasty" while mentioning Jeffrey Epstein and his ballroom? No, that's not true: No such post exists on his social media accounts. Misspellings and other details in the "post" also do not make sense. The claim appeared in a post made on Facebook…

Does a viral image of a man at the Western Wall actually show Cole Tomas Allen, the man charged with the attempted assassination of the sitting U.S. president? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no credible sources linking the image to Cole Tomas Allen. Available evidence strongly indicates that the image is a product of generative AI. The claim…

Did Kid Rock speak at the Pentagon about the Strait of Hormuz? No, that's not true: A Pentagon spokesman said the musician visited on April 27, 2026, as part of a Freedom 250th community event, where he met with service members and filmed videos tied to Memorial Day, America's 250th birthday, and his Freedom 250 tour. According to the Pentagon,…

Did cheerleaders for 38 sports teams shock social media by posting a bold "fully revealing" photoshoot that got seven million views on X? No, that's not true: The false claims originate from AI-generated articles and posts created by a spam operation managed from Vietnam. Fake fan pages are used to target North American and European Facebook users with nearly identical…

Did the White House display the Australian flag for King Charles' April 2026 visit? No, that's not true: The photo of the American flag and the Australian flag on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) is from 2019. The flag was displayed then for the Australian prime minister's state visit, according to publicly available images from photo agencies. Washington, D.C.…

Did a viral post prove that the woman collecting wine bottles at the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner was Ukraine's Ambassador Olga Stefanishyna? No, that's not true: The post did not include any evidence to support the identification. On the night of the shooting at the event, Stefanishyna looked different from the woman shown in the video. The claim appeared…

Is King Charles "dying of Kuru," (a rare disease linked to cannibalism), after decades of "child meat banquets"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the king has been diagnosed with Kuru as of the time of publication. He has announced he was diagnosed with cancer. The viral video making this claim does not cite any sources or…