Business

Were DJ Avicii, Chester Bennington, Chris Cornell and Anthony Bourdain all killed because of their work on a child sex trafficking documentary called "The Silent Children"? No, that's not true: The producer of the movie told Lead Stories that any connection between the "long abandoned" documentary project and the four men in the social media post is "completely untrue, and…

Are a person with dementia named "Jackson Simmons" and his dog "Cami" missing and has there been a silver alert issued for "Simmons"? No, that's not true: The story has been posted on social media as a part of a bait-and-switch scam. Such scams use fake information to encourage others to share the posts. Once the posts receive sufficient engagement,…

Is "lab grown" chicken that was approved by U.S. regulators "grown from human cells"? No, that's not true: Neither of the companies that received regulatory approval to sell cell-cultivated meat in the U.S. use human cells in their products. Additionally, Lead Stories did not find evidence that human cells were used to test the safety of the cell-cultivated chicken products.…

Did country music star Jason Aldean file a defamation suit against host Whoopi Goldberg and the talk show "The View"? No, that's not true: This claim originated from a self-described satirical website aimed at trolling conservatives. That website, The Dunning-Kruger Times, has a disclaimer that describes itself as part of a network of "parody, satire, and tomfoolery" and says, "Everything…

Does a patent prove that Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccines contain nanotechnology that interacts with 5G? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that mRNA vaccines or their contents interact with 5G technology, a molecular biologist told Lead Stories. A chemical engineer confirmed this, saying there is "absolutely no evidence at all" that such claims are true and that "there…

Did country star Jason Aldean fire his agent for agreeing to censor his "Try That in a Small Town" music video? No, that's not true: The claim about Aldean's video was published by a satirical website known for posting made-up stories. The story was reportedly based on an anonymous source "who may or may not be a random Uber Eats…

Is there a "secret stimulus" that provides $185,000 to U.S. homeowners? No, that's not true: The "benefit to homeowners" is just a marketing ploy to get home-owning online users to follow links and provide their personal information. Schemes like this are a common way to collect information about people that can be sold to companies that then provide pre-sifted lists…

Is Ellen DeGeneres appearing in an online video to endorse a free "Dental Relief card" for older Americans? No, that's not true: The video appears to be a deepfake creation. A spokesperson for the actress and comedian confirmed to Lead Stories that DeGeneres never endorsed such a product. The story originated in a post on Facebook on July 16, 2023.…

Was the film "Barbie" banned in Serbia because of a scene containing a map of "Greater Albania"? No, that's not true: The film was not banned in Serbia and such a map doesn't appear in the movie. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) posted to TikTok on July 5, 2023. It contained a supposed screenshot of an article…

Did Facebook add a new feature, a funny sound that is triggered by clicking the "like" button? No, that's not true: Memes suggesting that the new Facebook like button makes a sound so funny that people will laugh out loud are a practical joke. There is no new Facebook like button sound, this is just a way to trick people…

Did country music's Hank Williams Jr. resign from the Country Music Television's (CMT) board of directors to support fellow singer Jason Aldean? No, that's not true: The website this claim is from is satirical. Lead Stories could not find any evidence that Williams had left the board or even had been on the board, or evidence of a statement from…

Did Blake Shelton cancel a $30 million project with CMT, saying that "Jason is my friend," in the aftermath of the network pulling Jason Aldean's music video? No, that's not true: This claim originated from a self-described satirical website aimed at trolling conservatives. The website that posted the information, The Dunning-Kruger Times, has a disclaimer that describes itself as part…

Did country music singer Luke Bryan pull his music videos from CMT and say it was "time for the Bud Light treatment"? No, that's not true: This claim originated from a self-described satirical website aimed at trolling conservatives. The website that posted the information, The Dunning-Kruger Times, has a disclaimer that describes itself as part of a network of "parody,…

Did a flagger working for "NPL Pipeline Company in the Chicago suburbs" die after being given a bottle of water "suspected" of being "laced with fentanyl"? No, that's not true: NPL told Lead Stories that the report is "entirely false." The claim appeared in a post on Facebook (archived here) published on July 20, 2023, under the title "Stay safe…

Did the World Economic Forum introduce a "mark of the beast" CBDC microchip to "end gun ownership" in the United States? No, that's not true: The United States hasn't announced the implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as of this writing, and the hypothetical abolishment of the Second Amendment that allows gun ownership would involve a different process…

Did public health experts discredit the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies got emergency authorization from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA)? No, that's not true: While the new vaccines were being developed, ivermectin was also being studied as a potential treatment for COVID. Field trials did not find conclusive evidence that…

Does a photo in a social media post accurately portray an "8-year-old coal miner in Utah or Colorado, USA, in the early 1900s"? No, that's not true: A representative of the Helper's Mining and Railroad Museum, where the photo originated, confirmed for Lead Stories that the boy in the image was not a child coal mine worker but was posing…

Was a Pfizer manufacturing site in North Carolina that was damaged by a tornado "stocked with" COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: A Pfizer spokesperson told Lead Stories that COVID-19 vaccines are not made or stocked at the facility. The claim appeared in a post published to Instagram on July 19, 2023. It included a video that contained text reading…

Is a social media post featuring an audio recording of President Joe Biden talking about the banks collapsing real? No, that's not true: Experts in digital forensics and deepfakes told Lead Stories that the recording is not authentic. The claim appeared in a post and video on Instagram on April 22, 2023, under the title "President Biden. The fiat dollar…

Did the Financial Times report that a man was "arrested after he spent 17 years traveling the country with a hacked debit card that gave him the exact amount of money needed for any purchase"? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the Financial Times confirmed to Lead Stories that the outlet did not publish this story, and a search…