Does a real photo show the moment when Dr. Anthony Fauci's wife, Christine Grady, flipped the bird at a photographer? Yes, that's essentially true: The image is an AI-enhanced photo showing Grady flipping off a photographer as the couple drives through their Washington, D.C., neighborhood. The updated image removes raindrops and reflections from the vehicle window visible in the original…

Does a real video show a cyclist powering a Mercedes on the Autobahn at highway speeds? No, that's not true: The Hive Moderation content detection tool rated the video with a 99.7% likelihood of being AI-generated. Lead Stories found several AI glitches after a visual inspection of this clip. The video appeared in a post (archived here) published by the…

Are there no photos showing Abdul El-Sayed playing high school football? No, that's not true: The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan appears in his football gear in a photo posted to his Instagram account in March 2026 and in other photos in his high school yearbook. There is also a newspaper clipping from September 2002 documenting that he…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump publicly say or write that his predecessor, Joe Biden, "destroyed our country" and now "cancer is destroying him" in August 2026? No, that's not true: Lead Stories did not find evidence that the exact viral quote shared on social media actually belonged to Trump. It did not originate from any of his accounts on social…

Have you seen viral videos showing a courtroom sentencing where the convicted person is an over-the-top villain? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. They do not show real people or situations but are clickbait entertainment, possibly intended to ragebait people over stereotypes involved in…

Does a viral video actually show that an African migrant from a group rescued from the English Channel on August 7, 2026, said that he wanted "my money and my free house, and English woman"? No, that's not true: In reality, the man from the clip was filmed two years before the incident; he spoke Arabic, not English; and he…

Does a video clip show a farmer on a French show called "Face Your Worst Nightmare" being confronted with dozens of singing children dressed like the brother he killed in a drunk driving accident? No, that's not true: The clip actually shows a children's choral tribute to French composer and actor Serge Gainsbourg. "Farmer François Lavigne," along with the show…

Does a screenshot show a real Mehdi Hasan social media post with a September 11 photo and the caption, "Make American planes crash again."? No, that's not true: The screenshot is altered. The original Feb. 16, 2025, and later deleted post by Hasan did not have a 9/11 image showing a plane about to crash into the World Trade Center.…

Does a real video show Iranian jets being shot down over Tel Aviv by an Israeli laser defense system? No, that's not true: There is no evidence from credible sources that such an incident ever took place. An AI detection tool concluded that the video was very likely AI-generated, assigning it a 99.1% confidence score, and the video contains visual…

Did President Donald Trump file an emergency motion to "stop his own lawsuit against the BBC"? No, that's not true: The president's lawyers asked a U.S. federal judge for a stay of discovery into his finances in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster, which the judge granted on Aug. 6, 2026. Had Trump wanted to stop his…