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Does a viral photo authentically show Beyonce wearing a tank top with a Star of David while having an Israeli flag draped over her arms? No, that's not true: The image has been digitally manipulated based on an older original. The original picture shows no such tank top and shows red, white and blue tassels hanging from the singer's arms.…

Is a viral video a real news report about a "Sheriff Larry Leda" saying he'd apply for a green card for the Mexican rescue team that saved his family? No, that's not true: The footage in the viral video came from a press conference during which the phrase "green card" was not said and the caption in the video spelled…

Did President Donald Trump post on his Truth Social account that he was "giving serious consideration to taking away" Rosie O'Donnell's citizenship? Yes, that's true: The message appeared on Trump's Truth Social account at approximately 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, July 12, 2025. The post was still visible at the time of writing, about two hours later. The president…

Was Monkee Micky Dolenz rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after a tragic accident following a visit to Texas flood victims? No, that's not true: Dolenz posted a video on his Facebook page asking fans to ignore and not share posts making the claim. Lead Stories co-founder Alan Duke -- the writer of this fact check -- personally talked to…

Does a viral video really show a woman falling over and dropping a large rock on a glass bridge full of tourists, collapsing it? No, that's not true: The video originated on the account of "Stjepan Covic", who describes himself as an AI "Creator". The description of the video had a disclaimer indicating it was "created with artificial intelligence for…

Did FBI Director Kash Patel declassify records detailing Hillary Clinton's and Vladimir Putin's ties to the 'James Comey Scandal'? No, that's not true: The viral rumor originated from a comedian's page. Neither the FBI nor credible media organizations said anything about the purported "trove" of "intelligence documents". The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on July…

Did a widely-shared video authentically show Liberian President Joseph Boakai attacking the "racially prejudiced attitude" of his American counterpart Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The video included fake audio, likely the product of AI. The underlying footage of Boakai was in fact recorded in 2017. The video appeared in a July 10, 2025, post on TikTok (archived here) with…

Did a widely-shared video show a real Mexican soldier speaking to camera and saying "We're to help the people of Texas"? No, that's not true: The clip was produced using AI. The video contained telltale glitches such as the soldier's name badge reading "MEXICIO" instead of his name, and a small watermark in the corner of the video signified that…

Do viral photos really show a father with Down syndrome named Ben and his son Noah? No, that's not true: According to several detection tools the images were generated using artificial intelligence. Several variations of the pictures are making the rounds, but none of the ones reviewed by Lead Stories are real. An example of such an image could be…

Did X Engineering post that "bookmarks will be public for accounts that are not subscribed to X Premium" starting next week? No, that's not true: A falsified screenshot showed such a post made on July 10, 2025 but in reality it did not appear on the account. The faked screenshot originally appeared on a parody account on X. The faked…