Athletes

Did NBA player Victor Wembanyama, or NFL players Jeremiyah Love, Jalen Hurts, or Micah Parsons, reward Maria Thompson with a pickup truck or SUV after she helped him when he was having car trouble? No, that's not true: This story is a copy/paste clickbait formula which has been circulating on social media. Nearly identical stories mentioning those and other names…

Did various celebrities, including Adam Sandler, Jeanine Pirro and Vince Gill unveil or introduce a "new bill" that would block George Soros from bankrolling protests by classifying such funding as "organized crime under the RICO Act"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and other names were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There…

Did Tom Brady and three dozen other sports and entertainment celebrities confirm that Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis, was a relative? No, that's not true: The claim was made about at least 36 different athletes and entertainers in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan pages aimed at American and European…

Did either Karoline Leavitt, Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg, or Joy Behar say that Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, or a dozen other major artists is "just a musician"? No, that's not true: The claim was made about at least 16 different entertainers in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan pages aimed at American and European…

Did Karoline Leavitt dismiss various celebrities, saying "complex social policy" was "out of their league" and dismissing them as just a singer, musician, actor or comedian? No, that's not true: The claim about a televised confrontation in a TV studio was made about at least 26 different people in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan pages aimed at…

Did your favorite sports star "shock fans" or "shake" the league by "publicly" or "flatly" refusing to wear an LGBT Rainbow Armband because it would turn the game "into a political circus"? No, that's not true: The claim was made about at least 95 football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and hockey players in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan…

Did Bruce Springsteen, Cher, Joni Mitchell and dozens of other celebrities each buy the small diner where they ate for free while struggling and now feed free meals to 120 homeless people every day? No, that's not true: 54 virtually identical stories mentioning those and other names were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were…

Did Eminem, Kid Rock, Chris Stapleton, Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift or other celebrities stand for photos of themselves and supporters opening "America's first 100% free community health center"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning more than 40 celebrities in near-identical photos were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were no legitimate news articles…

Did Johnny Depp, Eminem, Cher, Paul McCartney or any other celebrity tell Donald Trump "You're tearing families apart ... Shame on you" at a live town hall meeting on immigration? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and more than 40 other celebrities were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were no news…

Did Barbra Streisand just announce a massive donation while accepting a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at a Los Angeles gala in front of various tech titans, billionaires and powerful people? No, that's not true: The exact same story, often accompanied by an image or a mention of Mark Zuckerberg, has been posted about dozens of celebrities by a network of sites…