Business

Did Nike announce the end of a contract with women's basketball star Brittney Griner after "a strong backlash from the online community" over Griner as too "woke"? No, that's not true: Representatives for Griner told Lead Stories that the claim is false. Nike has made no such public announcement. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook published…

Did psychologist Jordan Peterson endorse a book called "The Herbal Tablets"? No, that's not true: An online analysis tool found with 97 percent confidence that the audio was generated by AI. The audio track was dubbed over a video clip from Peterson's recent appearance on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. A search of the original podcast transcript does not contain…

Is there a teenager named "Graci Mae Thompson" missing in several locations at the same time? No, that's not true: This is a bait-and-switch scam. In such scams, users on social media post stories that they then edit to display supposed real estate offerings. In one instance, the claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook in a group…

Did a girl named "Nora" go missing after she left for school, and will it help to find her if the local community shares a post on social media? No, that's not true: Posts like these are part of a scam that starts with an appeal to urgently share a post, which the spammers will edit later to become something…

Were two of the airplanes involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack listed as "valid" instead of "destroyed" in FAA records? No, that's not true: The planes involved in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack that bore tail numbers N591UA and N612UA were listed as destroyed in FAA records reviewed by Lead Stories. What explains the re-appearance of the tail numbers…

Is there leaked footage showing BlackRock CEO Larry Fink carrying a gun as he walks with Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The still photo that's a thumbnail preview to a YouTube video is a fake AI-generated image. The scene in the photo does not appear in the YouTube video at…

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…

Did American billionaire Warren Buffett criticize former President Donald Trump for "begging for money" on X? No, that's not true: What appeared to be a screenshot of Buffett's account was a 2022 recycled meme. It was first published by a parody account. The claim resurfaced in a post (archived here) published on Threads on July 30, 2024. It said: Everyone's…

Did Netflix's stock drop almost 40 percent after a "big campaign donation announcement"? No, that's not true: The story originally came from a network of satirical websites and Facebook pages. A representative for Netflix confirmed public records showing the company's stock had not dropped 40 percent. Reed Hastings, Netflix's co-founder and executive chairman, did make a major personal donation to…

Did Starbucks founder and former CEO Howard Schultz say the "company has reached a critical point of decline amid global boycott," and did the BBC report his criticism, as a post on Instagram claimed? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for Starbucks Coffee Company told Lead Stories that this quote was "misinformation" and that there was "no record of this…

Do memorandums by President Joe Biden prove he is transferring his presidential power to others in advance of his death? No, that's not true: The delegation of powers to lower-level officials is a common practice in the federal government. There are dozens of examples during the Biden, Trump and Obama administrations where each president delegated limited "functions and authorities" to…

Did the would-be assassin who fired at former President Donald Trump use the roof of a building owned by investment firm BlackRock? No, that's not true: According to Pennsylvania property records, that building is owned by a different company, American Glass Research. No credible news organization reported otherwise, and BlackRock denied the claim in an email to Lead Stories. The…

Did the Kraft Heinz Company announce clear ketchup using lab-grown tomatoes, as a post on Instagram claimed? No, that's not true: A representative for The Kraft Heinz Company confirmed to Lead Stories that "these claims are false." The background of the video of a person pulling the bottle from a store shelf clearly reveals the bottles on the shelf are…

Did short selling for Trump Media "more than double" between July 1 and July 12, 2024, making the stock "plummet one day before the assassination attempt" against the company's co-founder, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The company, which owns the Truth Social platform, saw an upward trend that started on July 10, 2024 -- three days…

Can filling out a quick survey get consumers vouchers worth hundreds of dollars at Aldi grocery stores? No, that's not true: ALDI USA has debunked similar variations of this as a scam since at least 2020. Lead Stories has also previously debunked similar false promotions that con people into giving personal information. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Did authentic social media posts offer genuine concern over a missing teen named Kaniesa Perez? No, that's not true: The posts exploit a real missing teen story and falsely say that Kaniesa Perez went missing on the same day from Dover, Pennsylvania, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, among other locations more than a thousand miles apart. In reality, the teen went…

Do posts about a "little boy approximately 3 years old" found and "saved" by "Deputy Ryan Braidley" authentically describe a real-life situation? No, that's not true: Near-identical versions appeared on social media, claiming the rescue happened in locations as much as 600 miles from each other. Once social media users re-post and spread them, the posts are then heavily edited,…

Did teenager Misty Lang go missing after leaving a friend's home in Ohio, Michigan, California, and numerous other locations? No, that's not true: Posts saying she vanished from anywhere other than Decatur, Alabama, are part of a bait-and-switch scam. As of July 12, 2024, Lang has been missing from Decatur, Alabama since July 4, 2024. One example of such a…

Did WNBA basketball player Caitlin Clark reject a $400 million deal from Nike because of the company's association with NFL-quarterback-turned-civil-rights-activist Colin Kaepernick? No, that's not true: This claim first appeared in an article on a website with a satire disclaimer. There is no publicly available or credible evidence anything like this ever happened. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Is there an active "silver alert" in July 2024 for a 5-year-old girl called "Sofia" who is missing in Edinburgh, Scotland, according to a post on Facebook? No, that's not true: A real estate ad later replaced similar versions of the post about "Sofia." These changes appear to be part of a long-established scam that uses a heart-wrenching tale and…