Celebrities

Did The Sun publish a video claiming Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle sold Princess Diana's iconic revenge dress to Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska for $2.9 million in April 2025? No, that's not true: There is no such story or video on The Sun's website or social media. The quote from "Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams" in the video was cut…

Did Gene Hackman vow to "corroborate everything in the Epstein client list" in an X.com post a year before his death? No, that's not true: The user name seen in the purported February 2024 tweet does not exist and there is no indication online the 95-year-old actor was active on the social media platform in recent years. While no "client…

Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt kick "The View" host Whoopi Goldberg off the show after "heated clash on Live TV"? No, that's not true: The story narrated in a viral video was likely written by AI, according to online detection tools. As of February 24, 2025, there is no evidence that Goldberg had been fired from the daily…

Is a grayscale video of various celebrities wearing a t-shirt featuring a Star of David on a hand giving the finger to Kanye West a real ad? No, that's not true: The AI generated video, set to the tune of Jewish folk song "Hava Nagila", appears to show Scarlett Johansson, Jerry Seinfeld, Steven Spielberg, Mark Zuckerberg, Sacha Baron Cohen, David…

Did E! News report USAID paid celebrities like Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn, Orlando Bloom or Jean-Claude Van Damme millions of dollars to visit President Zelenskyy in Ukraine? No, that's not true: E! News told Lead Stories the video is "not authentic" and did not originate with them. Stiller denied he received any USAID money, posting on X that…

Has Oprah Winfrey died as of January 17, 2025, as implied by viral social media posts? No, that's not true: An article attached to a post implying that Winfrey died did not provide evidence of her supposed death nor mention anywhere in the article text that she had died. Winfrey was active on her verified social media accounts the same…

Does an authentic video show Elon Musk promoting a Barbara O'Neill remedy for erectile dysfunction and prostatitis? No, that's not true: Two AI detection tools found that the video was likely manipulated using AI technology. Lead Stories has found other AI-generated endorsement videos for O'Neill, an unregistered health practitioner. The story appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook…

Has actor Jim Carrey died as of December 15, 2024? No, that's not true: The actor was seen alive in public following the publication of an article that reported his supposed death. The website that published this article contained other articles that falsely reported celebrity deaths and did not list validating information. No information about Carrey's supposed death was reported…

Does a video shared to Instagram authentically show a car-sized drone or flying object flying over the Las Vegas Strip? No, that's not true: The original video was posted to TikTok with a caption stating, "This video was created digitally." The profile that initially published the video is self-described as "Mixed reality. Definitely not CIA." The claim appeared in a…

Did Oprah Winfrey say she was leaving the U.S. in response to the 2024 presidential election results as a social media post claimed? No, that's not true: She was still in the U.S. hosting a podcast event at her California home after this social media post's publication. The post came from a Facebook account that categorizes itself as "satire/parody". The…