Real Raw News

Did the public school system in Hamburg, Germany ban music lessons to avoid offending Muslims who view them to be forbidden or 'haram'? No, that's not true: The Hamburg public schools did no such thing. A German language news report has been misrepresented in social media posts. The report followed the signing of a joint statement by religious representatives and…

Did Rachel Maddow, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel just team up and launch a newsroom named "The Independent Desk"? No, that's not true: The story appeared on a recently launched website that does not list owners or publishers and it just adds Jimmy Kimmel to an older false story about Maddow and Colbert. The new story also contains verifiably untrue…

Did Simone Biles write a "lengthy, emotionally charged" blog post about Charlie Kirk, days after his assassination in September 2025? No, that's not true: As of September 19, the gymnast's website and social media profiles contain no trace of a post of any kind about Kirk. Accounts of an explosive criticism of Kirk were completely fabricated. The claim appeared in…

Do posts about the missing hiker "Sara Jenkins" on social media tell the true story of the discovery of that person's remains? No, that's not true: No credible media organizations reported that. Lead Stories found no court records confirming any part of the story circulating on social media platforms. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on…

Does a video filmed at Utah Valley University in the aftermath of the shooting of Charlie Kirk show a young man cheering his death? No, that's not true: While it's not possible to say what a person in a video was thinking, the audio of the original video records that the man and several other people were chanting "USA". Additional…

Did the UK government begin enforcing a daily bank withdrawal limit of £3,000 on individual accounts on September 1, 2025? No, that's not true: No such policy has been announced by either of the UK's banking and banker regulatory authorities. No such law, let alone regulation, has been adopted by Parliament and no credible news organization has reported such a…

Did President Trump sign into law an income tax exemption for families making less than $120,000? No, that's not true: No such exemption has passed the U.S. House and Senate. There is no such exemption on the official list of laws signed by Trump. The claim appeared in a September 4, 2025 TikTok video (archived here) published by the AppalachianQueen5…

Did Dolly Parton, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson and Blake Shelton announce a joint tour in 2026 called "One Last Ride" as several social media posts declared? No, that's not true: There is no mention of such a joint tour on any of the six country stars' social media pages. No credible news outlet has reported what…

Are stories about a former foster child named Lily Tran getting into Stanford and being called on stage to sing with their celebrity idol real? No, that's not true: There are several versions of the story circulating on social media in which different celebrities keep a promise to sing together if she got into Stanford. Lead Stories found versions with…

Was a Fort Collins, Colorado man, who described himself as a "wolf furry," mauled by wolves in Wyoming when he tried to join their pack? No, that's not true: The story circulating on social media originated on 'Casper Planet' a satirical Facebook page which posts fake stories that are based mainly in Wyoming. The page has a disclaimer that says,…