&Quot;Elon Musk&Quot;

Did hundreds of British citizens, including journalists, actually report being questioned by police about their posts on X over one weekend? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that so many people were questioned by police in England over a single weekend because of what they put on social media. Sometimes, police might investigate social media posts if they involve…

Did Elon Musk publicly announce plans to "officially" buy McDonald's in November 2024? No, that's not true: As of this publication, there is no record of Musk having formally announced plans to buy the food company, and McDonald's has not reported such a purchase. Furthermore, an online AI detector tool found that images published in the post that depicted Musk…

Did tech billionaire Elon Musk unveil a "UFO fighter jet" named Ethereon in mid-November 2024? No, that's not true: Neither Musk, nor his company SpaceX, nor credible news organizations said anything about the development of such a spacecraft. The photos of Musk at the launch pad in the posts spreading the rumor were AI-manufactured. The claim appeared in a post…

Did Elon Musk permanently ban author Stephen King from X after King called Musk "the First Lady"? No, that's not true: King posted on his own X account that neither the "first lady" reference nor the ban happened. King added "Yet here I am." A Google News search did not find any news articles about Musk banning King's account. The…

Did Taylor Swift cancel "red state shows" after President-elect Donald Trump won the 2024 general election? No, that's not true: This first appeared on social media in a post on Facebook with "satire" in the caption. Plus, the Facebook account that posted the information says in its bio that it shares satire and parody content. The article the post was…

Did Elon Musk's satellite-based high-speed internet system Starlink play any role in counting or uploading votes in the U.S. election that could have allowed for potential vote manipulation or cheating? No, that's not true: Election security experts told Lead Stories that there's no evidence of vote tampering involving Starlink. U.S. voting systems are managed by county and state offices on…

Did Elon Musk buy CNN in November 2024? No, that's not true: A CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories "there is no truth in rumors of a sale or change in ownership of CNN whatsoever." The assertion was made by Argentinian President Javier Milei and was picked up by Argentinian news outlets, but he offered no proof of such a sale.…

Did Elon Musk post on X that the U.S. overstepped its bounds "by helping to end apartheid" in his "home country," South Africa? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no record of Musk sharing this statement on his verified X profile as of November 5, 2024. The news media have not reported the supposed statement even though it "showed"…

Did The Atlantic publish an article with the title "How A Squirrel Became A Rallying Cry Of The Far Right"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no such story on the magazine's website. The X account that posted a fake screenshot of the article later described it as a "meme." The story appeared in a post (archived here) on…

Did Joe Rogan say "he will not be voting for Trump after having him on the podcast"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories reviewed Rogan's podcasts and public statements in the days after Donald Trump's appearance. Neither subsequent episodes of Rogan's podcast, his social media accounts nor credible news reports included any statements by Rogan that he had decided not…