Olympics

Did Simone Biles write a "lengthy, emotionally charged" blog post about Charlie Kirk, days after his assassination in September 2025? No, that's not true: As of September 19, the gymnast's website and social media profiles contain no trace of a post of any kind about Kirk. Accounts of an explosive criticism of Kirk were completely fabricated. The claim appeared in…

Did U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi successfully sue American basketball player Brittney Griner, preventing the athlete from participating in the Olympic Games? No, none of that is true: No credible media organization ever reported that, as of August 19, 2025. When Lead Stories checked specialized legal resources, those searches showed no confirmation that such a lawsuit ever existed. The claim…

Did activist and former swimmer Riley Gaines "make it to the Olympics"? No, that's not true: Her name was not on the 2024 U.S. national team roster. It doesn't appear on the official website of the Olympic Games, either. The claim appeared in an interview aired on Fox News and uploaded to YouTube on April 16, 2025. At the 1:25…

Did Donald Trump admit in an Oval Office ceremony on March 7, 2025, that the 2024 election was rigged so that he could become president again? No, that's not true: President Trump was claiming the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden was rigged, not the 2024 election. If he had won in 2020, he would not be president when…

Does a video show President Donald Trump saying that the 2024 presidential election was rigged with the help of Elon Musk? No, that's not true: In the speech excerpted in the video, Trump's remark about rigging referred to the 2020 presidential election, which he has repeatedly and falsely claimed was not legitimate. In the speech, he made a vague remark…

Does a photo show basketball star LeBron James kissing an unidentified man in Paris? No, that's not true: A reverse image search showed that the men in the photo are a couple who go by the screen name "TeeAndDrew." An online news search for any credible evidence that the event described in the post actually happened came up empty. The…

Did the World Boxing Organization say Algerian female boxer Imane Khelif was actually a man, banning her from boxing for life and forcing her to return all her medals and prize money? No, that's not true: An attorney for the organization told Lead Stories that it has not taken any position on Khelif's gender and that she has never even…

Does an image of a shirtless boxer in black briefs show new evidence that the Olympic women's boxing champion from Algeria, Imane Khelif, is really a man? No, that's not true: This photo is fake and was posted on X by an account that publishes only AI-generated images. It has several telltale signs of AI such as strange, glyph-like text…

Was Thomas Jolly, "the artist who created the Olympics opening ceremony," hospitalized after being hit by lightning? No, that's not true: The viral claim was based on a fake screenshot of a nonexistent AP article. Lead Stories found no actual news reports or any evidence that such a lightning strike happened. The claim appeared in a reel on Facebook on…

Did American basketball player Brittney Griner make a public statement announcing she is leaving the United States? No, that's not true: Griner's long-time agent refuted the claim in an email to Lead Stories and there are no stories about any such announcement on any news websites. The rumor first appeared in an AI-generated article published by what appeared to be…