Was Turning Point USA's alternative Super Bowl halftime show with Kid Rock cancelled after too many artists dropped out, as viral online rumors say? No, that's not true: There have been no announcements about a cancellation of TPUSA's "All American Halftime Show." The rumor likely originated from confusion with the cancellation of a single South Carolina tour stop in a…
Did scientists at Harvard University create a 3D model depicting what Mary, Mother of Jesus, might have looked like? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated image based on the likeness of Madonna, the "Queen of Pop". The joke post follows a formula which has been circulating for years online in which the face of a modern celebrity is…
Is a photo of Ivanka Trump and Melania Trump cuddling with Jeffrey Epstein and Brett Ratner authentic? No, that's not true: The image in the social media post is clearly labeled "satire," and the caption states it is satire. The image was created by an artificial intelligence tool, according to an AI-generated content detector. The claim appeared in a February…
Did Karoline Leavitt say the Melania Trump movie sold more tickets than Star Wars? No, that's not true: The creator of the post stated that they made it up as satire. The White House press secretary did not say the movie about President Donald Trump's wife sold more tickets than Star Wars. The claim appeared as a February 1, 2026,…
Does the name of Mira Nair, the mother of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, appear in the Epstein files? Yes, that is true: Lead Stories located an email that mentions her appearance at an afterparty for one of her films. The event occurred in 2009. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on February 1, 2026. It…
Does a video show a Disney park character in a Minnie Mouse costume smoking and giving the middle finger during a break? No, that's not true: Videos online show this same man in the same suit standing on the Las Vegas Strip, where people are known to dress up as various characters and solicit tips from tourists. There is no…
Is a video that shows a man who is unhappy when his french fries are spilled in a McDonald's during an earthquake in Toronto real? No, that's not true: The short clip was created by an artificial intelligence tool, according to an AI-generated content detector. Implausible details in the scene like garbled text and a shape-shifting hamburger also indicate it…
Did U.S. President Donald Trump write on Truth Social that the documentary about his wife, Melania, will become mandatory in history classes, while calling her "Melanie"? No, that's not true: No such post could be found on his account. Lead Stories searched an archive of Trump's posts, which did not produce any evidence that the viral image showed a real…
Did Stevie Nicks, Tom Brady, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Elon Musk, or dozens of other entertainers, sports stars, or media figures defend Donald Trump from accusations he's authoritarian and trying to cancel elections? No, that's not true: The identical story is told about at least 55 celebrities who purportedly said "This disorder is being used to scare Americans. To convince…
Did Millie Bobby Brown say that being deported is not the end of the world, and that "there's a literal genocide in Gaza"? No, that's not true: The fake quote attributed to Brown originated from an account that frequently posts fake quotes attributed to celebrities. The account does not have any satire or parody disclaimer, but their content output provides…
Is the image of a man dressed in a pink dress wearing a gold crown a real photo of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old man shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota? No, that's not true: The person shown wearing the pink dress is an altered image of Ben Taylor, a comedian who appeared on the reality show Fishtank. The…
Did Tom Brady and three dozen other sports and entertainment celebrities confirm that Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis, was a relative? No, that's not true: The claim was made about at least 36 different athletes and entertainers in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan pages aimed at American and European…
Did either Karoline Leavitt, Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg, or Joy Behar say that Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, or a dozen other major artists is "just a musician"? No, that's not true: The claim was made about at least 16 different entertainers in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan pages aimed at American and European…
Did Karoline Leavitt dismiss various celebrities, saying "complex social policy" was "out of their league" and dismissing them as just a singer, musician, actor or comedian? No, that's not true: The claim about a televised confrontation in a TV studio was made about at least 26 different people in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan pages aimed at…
Are the stories of Helen Keller's life achievements just a made up scam? No, that's not true: A vague conspiracy aims to erase the well-documented life achievements of Helen Keller. The American author and social activist was both deaf and blind from an illness in early childhood. She was a public figure who traveled and mainly communicated through an interpreter…
Did your favorite sports star "shock fans" or "shake" the league by "publicly" or "flatly" refusing to wear an LGBT Rainbow Armband because it would turn the game "into a political circus"? No, that's not true: The claim was made about at least 95 football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and hockey players in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan…
Does a viral video show NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte excitedly saying "I just got viral! Yaaay! Because my good friend Donald J. Trump, he re-posted, he re-tweeted a message from me ... " ? No, that's not true: The man in the video is Dutch comedian Remko Vrijdag. Vrijdag's Instagram account shows him playing numerous roles including, from time…
Have Rowan Atkinson and Mia Khalifa reportedly been dating since summer? No, that's not true: This story is clickbait -- there are no reports from credible sources that the two celebrities are dating. Khalifa has denied the rumor on social media, posting, "guys I am dating a fool but it's not mr bean". The false rumor appears in a post…
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 Travis Kelce, Jelly Roll, Bruce Springsteen, Caitlin Clark and a 12 other celebrities say that President Trump was "a vicious old bastard draining America's soul after the Born-in-America Act"? No, that's not true: The claim that at least 17 different sports stars and entertainers made that identical statement was made up by a Vietnamese-based spam factory that uses artificial…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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