Does a viral video really show body camera footage of a "crazy Karen" being arrested for keying a Tesla and shooting the driver's side three times with a handgun? No, that's not true: The "Axon bodycam" timestamp in the video is a fake that does not match the struck-through zeroes seen in real police video time stamps. The bullet holes…
Did President Donald Trump post the board of Tesla should approve a new compensation package for Elon Musk, "ASAP" and to get him "P-A-I-D"? No, that's not true: A viral image that showed such a post was fake. The Truth Social post was not found on Trump's account or on a site that archives all his posts. The bogus Trump…
Did President Trump announce in a video that the production of Tesla cars would be banned in the United States? No, that's not true:The audio in the viral video, in which Trump could also be heard calling Elon Musk a "snake", was generated using AI according to a detection tool. It originated on an Instagram account with "AI" in its…
Does a cropped screenshot of a Google Trends chart of search term usage prove Tesla owners were "scrambling to remove their anti Elon stickers" on June 5, 2025, the day Musk began to publicly feud with Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The screenshot is fake and does not show actual data. Looking the past seven days of data, June…
Did clips shared widely in May 2025 authentically show Elon Musk and former CNN anchor Don Lemon arguing during an interview? No, that's note true: The video included audio that was fake, and most likely AI-generated. The clips added the fake audio and lip movements to authentic footage of a real discussion between Musk and Lemon that was published in…
Does a viral image authentically show a "1930 Russian/Soviet 'Tarantaika'"? No, that's not true: The picture was likely AI generated. The same picture was previously falsely claimed to have been a "restored 1875 chuckwagon" and Nicola Tesla's invention. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on May 26, 2025. It opened: 1930 Russian/Soviet 'Tarantaika' (Boneshaker). The…
Did American Idol winner Jamal Roberts turn down a Tesla ad from Elon Musk in an upcoming music video? No, that's not true: A viral article about such a rejection did not name any verifiable sources or offer any quotes to back that up. It also claimed there had been a "media frenzy" about the issue but no media outlets…
Did basketball star Caitlin Clark publicly refuse to advertise Tesla on her Indiana Fever jersey in May 2025? No, that's not true: A post promoting that rumor contained several fabricated quotes attributed to both Clark and Tesla owner Elon Musk. We found no corroboration for the story, or the claim that Clark had threatened to reveal damaging secrets about Musk.…
Does authentic video show a Tesla cybertruck is not destroyed when a boulder described as a ton of rock is dropped on it? No, that's not true: The video originates from a social media account that specializes in generative AI fake videos. The same account features videos of a Yeti frozen in a block of ice, a giant spiked sea…
Do viral posts prove that the tech billionaire decided to celebrate American ice skater Alysa Liu's gold medal at the 2025 women's championship by giving her a Tesla? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no credible reports confirming it. Musk's and Liu's accounts on social media don't offer any support for the claim, either. The claim appeared in a…
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