Entertainment

Was actress Kathy Griffin "thrown off the red carpet" at the Met Gala in 2024? No, that's not true: This claim appeared on an America's Last Line of Defense Facebook account, listed under a "satire/parody" category. Lead Stories has previously debunked many other satirical claims by entertainment websites, such as The Dunning-Kruger Times, in the America's Last Line of Defense…

Does a viral video show actor Harrison Ford advocating for Palestine? No, that's not true: A fragment of his speech was taken out of context. Ford was discussing the Amazon rainforest at a 2019 United Nations climate event, over four years before the Hamas-Israel war that began on October 7, 2023. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on…

Did rock musician Kid Rock refuse to do a collaborative tour with pop star Taylor Swift? No, that's not true: This claim initially appeared in an article on a satirical website known for publishing fabricated content. There is otherwise no publicly available or credible evidence to support this claim. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on…

Does a viral video capture people in Rafah applying makeup in order to fake injuries? No, that's not true: The claim mislabels a behind-the-scenes video from the production of a Palestinian TV series, not real-life scenes taking place in Gaza on May 6, 2024. The project premiered on March 12, 2024. The story appeared in a post (archived here) on…

Did Keanu Reeves reject a $1.7 billion "woke" movie offer after saying "woke mind virus should be destroyed," as a social media post claimed? No, that's not true: The claim was first published on a self-described satire website, and an analysis using a third-party tool determined that it was 99.9 percent likely to be an AI-generated story. The article was…

Was SpongeBob SquarePants based on the abusive childhood of a 9-year-old boy in the 1940s, as a video on TikTok suggested? No, that's not true: Stephen Hillenburg, the cartoon's creator, said in a 2015 interview that he was inspired by his marine science background to create the show and its characters. The show was primarily based on a comic book…

Did Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg and Sylvester Stallone all resign from the Screen Actors Guild to create a new "no-woke" union focused on traditional values? No, that's not true: Washington's representative told Lead Stories the claim is "not true." It appeared on a social media page that clearly identifies itself as an "entertainment website · satire/parody." The claim appeared in…

Is a video showing Dr. Mehmet Oz promoting weight loss pills that help dissolve fat authentic? No, that's not true: The original video of Dr. Oz wearing the same outfit is available on the internet and he never mentions a deal for weight loss pills. The audio of his voice doesn't appear to match his lip movements, and according to…

Did the Country Music Hall of Fame make a statement announcing that it would not consider Taylor Swift for induction because her music "is bubblegum, not country"? No, that's not true: The story came from a satirical website but then was reposted on social media without a disclaimer indicating that it was not a real news article. Lead Stories found…

Did Dr. Oz promote a weight-loss "coffee trick" endorsed by Adele? No, that's not true: A viral video making the claim utilized AI-generated sound. Lead Stories found no evidence confirming that Dr. Oz ever promoted this "coffee trick" or that Adele ever endorsed it. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on the page named "Transforming Women"…

Did American singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson endorse weight-loss gummies in a video posted on Facebook? No, that's not true: The audio has been edited from a video originally posted on Wilson's Instagram page. In June 2023, Wilson issued a statement on her verified Instagram that these claims about her taking weight-loss gummies "ain't true." The claim appeared in a Facebook post…

Did gospel singer Tamela Mann endorse weight loss gummies? No, that's not true: Mann publicly refuted that she promoted weight loss gummies. Mann and several other celebrities are falsely tied to weight loss or keto gummy endorsements. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on March 23, 2024. The post included a video with narration that…

Does a photo on Facebook actually show rapper Sean "P. Diddy" Combs seated next to former President Donald Trump and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as the two men snuggle with young women? No, that's not true: A previous fact check by Lead Stories determined that another version of the photo that did not include Combs was likely AI-generated.…

Did Joe Rogan claim scientists have found extraterrestrial life on a planet known as "K2-18 b," as a video on Facebook suggested? No, that's not true: As narration that sounds like Rogan describes the supposed discovery, images cover his face so it's not obvious if the voice is dubbed. There is no evidence the podcast host ever made the comments.…

Did former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines win a $10 million defamation lawsuit against actress Whoopi Goldberg? No, that's not true: As of the time this article was published, Gaines had not filed any lawsuit against Goldberg that resulted in her winning $10 million. The bogus information originated on a satirical website. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Did a viral image portray Beyonce's "first big 'country' show in a nearly empty stadium"? No, that's not true: The 2024 claim came from a satirical network that explicitly warns the audience that it does not publish fact-based stories. The shared picture showed a 2023 concert of Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe at Wembley Stadium, with Beyonce's photo superimposed on…

Did tech entrepreneur Elon Musk join forces with interior designer Joanna Gaines to promote a product called "Watt Saver" that was claimed to help people save on electricity bills? No, that's not true: It's a long-running scam that uses manipulated images and faked news articles about the endorsement. Back in 2023, Gaines publicly denied any involvement in this scheme. The…

Did the Walt Disney Company buy Jeffrey Epstein's island? No, that's not true: The social media post showed the website that made the claim, which is a site that clearly states they are "the world's best satire and parody site." They explain that their stories are made up, stating, "We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff." The claim appeared…

Are actors Roseanne Barr and Michael Richards developing a "new non-woke sitcom focused on traditional values"? No, that's not true: The site that produced this claim describes itself as satirical. Lead Stories could find no evidence that this claim was legitimate. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) by SpaceX Fanclub on April 12, 2024. The caption on…

Did actors Jon Voight and Angelina Jolie "join forces for a non-woke production studio" named "Time for a Change"? No, that's not true: The claim was first published on a self-described satire website. The article was not even an original, manually crafted piece -- it was an AI-generated story. The claim originated from an article (archived here) on esspots.com published…