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Did TV host Johnny Carson comfort dying woman Barbara Martinez while taping the March 17, 1983, episode of NBC's Tonight Show? No, that's not true: Social media posts about it did not include the actual recording of the purported event, sharing an AI-generated image instead. Lead Stories found no credible sources ever mentioning the supposed dance, and the Library of…

Did a "Josephine Boudreaux, the Black Widow of Louisiana", seduce and kill 11 Klan members in 1872? No, that's not true: This story is made up and only recently surfaced on social media. There is no historical record of this woman, and the story lacks verifying details such as names and places. There are many images purporting to show Boudreaux,…

Does a video show illegal immigrants in the UK stealing from the dead by taking things from graves to sell? No, that's not true: The video was first posted by a TikTok account from Ukraine, on April 27, the day the Ukrainian and Eastern Orthodox Churches observe "Thomas Sunday" or "Provody." The specific observance of the tradition varies by region,…

Does authentic video show U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining cats and dogs, as of October 9, 2025? No, that's not true: Viral clips showing cats and dogs being seized were products of generative AI. Their early versions displayed a removable watermark pointing to a specific app. They originated as online satire. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

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 Bill Gates use his turn speaking at a White House dinner to apologize for things such as: Windows, viruses, vaccines, sterilizing people, and trying to block out the sun -- finishing by asking for a pardon over "all the Epstein shit"? No, that's not true: This video was published by a parody account and bears their watermark in the…

Is a story about a former foster child named Lily Tran getting into Stanford and being called on stage to speak alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth real? No, that's not true: The image and the text used to tell the story were generated by artificial intelligence tools, according to AI detectors. There are several versions of the story circulating on…

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…

Is a video of Minneapolis mayor candidate Omar Fateh saying "Look at me, I am the mayor now" authentic? No, that's not true: Fake audio was added to a clip from a real video of Fateh speaking to a state Senate hearing in 2022 in which he never spoke those words. The voice and accent in the fake audio do…

Did ICE arrest Mexican nationals who helped flood recovery efforts, and did Texas Gov. Greg Abbott say "I support ICE deporting the Mexicans who helped during the floods"? No, that's not true: A viral TikTok video contained a fabricated story about ICE "aiming weapons" at the rescuers and "loading them into vans". A clip of Abbott contained fake audio and…