Is a video that shows a prisoner hiding in his cell by suspending himself under the ceiling while a guard checks the cell authentic? No, that's not true: Online detection tools flagged the video as likely AI-generated. One rated it as 100% AI-generated. The claim appeared in a video posted on April 14, 2026, on X account @Oguthaane (archived here…
Is a paper by Dr. Drew Pinsky, Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Harvey Risch, and nine others claiming that ivermectin and mebendazole improve cancer outcomes in 84.4% of cases a proper medical study? No, that's not true: Research experts told Lead Stories that the paper relies on an uncontrolled, self-reported survey with major bias, no independent verification of diagnoses or outcomes,…
Does a real unmanipulated video show Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying "conspiracy theorists were right" and the COVID-19 vaccine maybe causes "gayness" and calling Anthony Fauci a "goblin"? No, that's not true: The audio in the video has been altered. An un-altered original video of RFK Jr. originally making the speech shows that he never claims the vaccine causes those…
Did President Donald Trump post a depiction of himself as a Christ-like healer on Truth Social on April 12, 2026? Yes, that's true: While fake Trump posts are often widely shared on social platforms and can quickly go viral, Lead Stories reviewed this instance and confirmed that Trump posted it. The content appeared on his verified Truth Social account. It…
Did CNN rely on an unnamed "fake news site from Nigeria" to report on Iran's ceasefire statements on April 7, 2026, as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that CNN relied on a Nigerian website. The initial CNN report said that the statement attributed directly to the Supreme National Security Council was…
Does a real video show a hands-free floating drone-powered umbrella? No, that's not true: The video of a woman doing chores on a dairy farm on a rainy day is AI-generated. Engineers have experimented with various approaches to make this idea a reality, but this specific video is not real. The video appeared in a post on X published by…
Did First Lady Melania Trump make a public statement defending President Trump, saying "what is happening to my husband goes far beyond ordinary criticism"? No, that's not true: The claim bears the hallmarks of so-called "Viet Spam" campaigns of nearly identical made-up clickbait stories, each featuring a different famous person, created to drive traffic to web pages based overseas, often…
Did Russian President Vladimir Putin say "Don't dare to touch the Strait of Hormuz" on April 1, 2026? No, that's not true: The posts attributing those words to him originated from self-described satire and parody accounts. The fake story was spreading across social media platforms paired with a well-known video meme showing Putin walking. The claim appeared in a post…
Did a microphone at a press briefing catch the audible sound of a fart from Pete Hegseth, the secretary of war? No, that's not true: The press briefing clip published by the Iranian Embassy in Kenya has been edited to include a fart sound effect. The original video published on Instagram on March 13, 2026, the day of the press…
Did official Iranian accounts publish a video of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, walking into a military operations room? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the video was ever posted to any official government account or any account closely linked to the government. The video showed signs of AI generation. The claim appeared in a post and…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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