Sports

Did Michael Jordan reject a $400 million offer from Disney, saying he does not "collaborate with companies aligned with woke ideologies"? No, that's not true: An AI detector found that the article that said so was 99.9 percent likely to be AI-generated. The media didn't report that Jordan or his representatives rejected an offer from Disney. The claim appeared in…

Does a video on social media show Boston Red Sox player Jarren Duran receiving a standing ovation upon returning from suspension for calling a fan a homophobic slur? No, that's not true: The video uses old footage from a 2023 game at Fenway Park and does not show the game on August 14, 2024. Local sports reporters and the Boston…

Did Andy Reid, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, publicly say that "If you kneel for the national anthem, you should lose your Olympic medal"? No, that's not true: An AI detection tool says it is highly likely that the article containing the statement was generated using artificial intelligence. Lead Stories didn't find any record of a press conference…

Did American basketball player Brittney Griner make a public statement announcing she is leaving the United States? No, that's not true: Griner's long-time agent refuted the claim in an email to Lead Stories and there are no stories about any such announcement on any news websites. The rumor first appeared in an AI-generated article published by what appeared to be…

Does a video on social media show Moroccan football players at the Paris Olympics doing throat-slitting motions and shouting "Allahu Akbar"? No, that's not true: That video was posted to Instagram in July 2023, when Morocco was participating in the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations. That competition was held in Rabat, Morocco, one year before the Paris Olympics started. The…

Did a Turkish mechanic, Yusuf Dikec, discover a passion for sport shooting while going through a "particularly frustrating divorce mediation" and did he send his ex-wife a message from the Olympic podium that he wants his dog back? No, that's not true: This origin story is satire, in reality he has been an internationally competitive sport shooter since 2001. Now…

Did Mike Tyson announce he wants to box against "Olympic Dude," a derogatory reference to female boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria's team? No, that's not true: Tyson's representative told Lead Stories: "This is absolutely false." Lead Stories could find no news reports about Tyson making such a statement. Social media posts about the announcement offered no evidence that Tyson ever…

Did Olympian Simone Biles reveal that she's pregnant and announce she will retire when she finishes competing at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, as a Facebook post said? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, Lead Stories did not find any evidence on her social media nor on credible sports news sites that Biles made such an announcement.…

Is Algerian boxer Imane Khelif a man who transitioned to be a woman? No, that's not true: International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach publicly said that Khelif's case is the case of somebody "being born, raised, competed and having a passport as a woman", which is the Olympic standard for determination of gender. According to the athlete's own words, she…

Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk announce on social media that he would "stop all donations" towards the Olympic Games because it's "a woke event now"? No, that's not true: There are no posts on Musk's social media making or confirming such an announcement. The original article reporting that was written using artificial intelligence according to an online tool that detects…

Did Irish professional boxer Kellie Harrington say she would refuse to compete against "biological males" at the Paris 2024 Olympics? No, that's not true: The Olympic Federation of Ireland told Lead Stories on August 2, 2024, that Harrington "does not recollect a conversation about this," and that there is no record of Harrington making any such statement. Lead Stories also…

Does a swimmer on the 2024 Japanese Olympic team, Yokasi Maogo, have a name that sounds like the phrase "I almost drowned" in Spanish? No, that's not true: There is no swimmer by that name on Japan's Olympic swimming team. While "Yo casi me ahogo" does mean "I almost drowned" in Spanish, it's not a coincidence, as the name is…

Did Samsung withdraw from a $1 billion Olympics sponsorship after the opening ceremony for the Paris Summer Games in July 2024? No, that's not true: The website that said so is a self-described satire site that says it brings the "freshest fake news." As of August 2, 2024, there are no actual news reports that Samsung pulled their sponsorship of…

Do photos show Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni scowling in response to two female athletes kissing at the Olympics? No, that's not true: News agency video proves that the photos were taken at a volleyball match. Italy's Alice Bellandi celebrated her gold medal win in women's judo by kissing her partner and fellow judoka, Jasmine Martin. The claim appeared in…

Does a video show an Olympic Games athlete vomit as a direct result of swimming in Paris' Seine? No, that's not true: The athlete shown throwing up after his triathlon faulted the Parisian heat rather than the Seine. Although the river's water quality was poor in the days preceding the triathlon, there is no evidence that it caused Olympic athletes…

Does a social media video of large crowds moving through a city center show a mass public protest against the disputed results of Venezuela's July 2024 presidential election? No, that's not true: The video first appeared in 2022 and shows soccer fans gathering in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, to celebrate Argentina winning soccer's World Cup that year. It does…

Did Vice President Kamala Harris say, "Today we celebrate the Olympics. Because Olympians are Olympic, & they are at the Olympics being Olympian, so it's more important now than ever to support their Olympianism"? No, that's not true: Harris' spokesperson said that's not something she said. It is a parody of a manipulated Harris quote that Lead Stories debunked previously.…

Did massive power outages occur in Paris on July 27, 2024, the day after the Olympics opening ceremony? No, that's not true: The energy company responsible for the power outages said power was restored within 10 minutes and that 85,000 residential clients were affected, while the Paris metropolitan area has a population of 11 million. The power cuts were not…

Does a picture going viral on social media show Israeli swimmers making the phrase "Bring them home now" with their bodies during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics? No, that's not true: The photo was taken in 2023 and posted to social media at that time. Also, it was taken at a pool in Israel, more than 2,600 miles from the…

Does a video show former President Donald Trump playing golf with an undamaged ear 10 days after an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024? No, that's not true: The photo in a social media post was taken from a video recorded the week before the shooting, the video's creator said in a public statement. FBI records confirm Trump's injuries, which…