Springfield

Are social media posts claiming that Pope Leo XIV and a long list of celebrities each filed a $50 million lawsuit against a news host for "vicious, calculated defamation" real? No, that's not true: None of the celebrities named in the posts made any such statement. The claims came from a spam operation managed from Vietnam that uses AI-generated Facebook…

Are social media posts claiming celebrities "went live at 3 a.m." with a message saying they received a threat meant to silence them real? No, that's not true: None of the celebrities named in the posts made any such statement. The claims came from AI-generated Facebook posts produced by a spam operation managed from Vietnam. Among the false posts Lead…

Did Netflix announce a "Till the End" series directed by Joe Berlinger to explore the lives of at least 62 celebrities? No, that's not true: The false claims originated 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 posts using…

Are viral posts claiming your favorite celebrity family adopted or had twin babies and giving them names that "are taking the internet by storm" real? No, that's not true: Nearly identical posts naming at least 49 celebrity families were distributed on Facebook in mid-April 2026 by a spam network managed from Vietnam. The posts appear to be AI-generated and have…

Did dozens of celebrities suddenly all post a "positive update" on Facebook after a recent medical procedure or treatment? No, that's not true: The posts, often accompanied by images of the celebrity in question and a quote about "pushing through" a "few health challenges" or asking to "spare a prayer" were mass produced by a network of Facebook pages and…

Did Keanu Reeves, Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, and many others say that children should be raised according to "traditional values" avoiding "LGBTQ themes"? No, that's not true: This is a fake ragebait story claiming that many fans are now boycotting celebrities over something they never said. Nearly identical stories mentioning those and other names were published by a…

Did Kevin Costner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jared Goff or any celebrities donate millions of dollars to support the funeral arrangements for four of the six U.S. servicemembers killed in a drone strike in Kuwait? No, that's not true: The false claim that at least 37 sports and entertainment celebs made such donations was created and distributed by a spam factory…

Did Rowan Atkinson, Barbra Streisand, Jon Bon Jovi and Stevie Nicks, and other celebrities all give the same speech to Mark Zuckerberg and a roomful of the rich and powerful on Dec. 20, 2025, saying "you are not creating change -- you are creating noise"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and other names were published by…

Did episode 12 of season 6 of The Simpsons predict the death of Hulk Hogan, as a viral TikTok video claimed? No, that's not true: That episode is titled "Homer The Great" and Hulk Hogan did not appear in it. The video contained several artifacts that point towards the use of artificial intelligence as well as a tiny caption that…

Does a viral video show a "Massive Tornado Hits Springfield Illinois Today July 20, 2025"? No, that's not true: That video clip has been online since at least July 2024. It showed news coverage of Typhoon Yagi striking China's island province of Hainan. The mislabelled video was posted July 20, 2025 to TikTok (archived here) on the @disaster.world1 account, titled…