&Quot;Christopher Blair&Quot;

Did Team USA lose $60 million in endorsements after Caitlin Clark was not placed on the 2024 USA Basketball Women's Olympic Team? No, that's not true: the Indiana Fever WNBA player is indeed not on the team but the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee told Lead Stories that the claim about losing endorsements is "not true." A representative of…

Did Caitlin Clark replace Brittney Griner on the Team USA women's Olympic basketball team due to rule-breaking by Griner? No, that is not true: The website the claim originated from is self-described as satirical and says on its "About Us" page that its content is "the freshest fake news." As of publication date, rookie sensation Clark had not been offered…

Did movie star Clint Eastwood return all six of his Oscars and denounce Hollywood as "morally bankrupt?" No, that's not true: The account that made the claim is part of a network of self-described "parody, satire and tomfoolery" websites that completely make up stories. Eastwood has only won five Academy Awards and there are no reputable news outlets reporting that…

Did the U.S. Olympic Committee say that American swimmer Lia Thomas, the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA swimming championship Division I title, is "welcome to try out for the men's team," as a post on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: The spoof article that made the claim was published by SpaceX Arena, a satirical website. SpaceX…

Did actor Vin Diesel pull his $1 million annual donation to Boy Scouts of America while being quoted as saying, "It's no longer the organization I know and love"? No, that's not true: A representative of The Boy Scouts of America organization told Lead Stories this claim is "patently false." This fake quote came from a post on the Facebook…

Did Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid say, as of May 23, 2024, that he will resign if the Chiefs fire kicker Harrison Butker, adding "If they get rid of Harrison, they get rid of me"? No, that's not true: While it was reported in May 2024 that Reid said he supports Butker's right to his opinions, the quote…

Did Beyonce try to convince such singers as Oliver Anthony and Kid Rock to share the stage with her by offering them money? No, that's not true: The claims came from self-described satire sources known for mass-producing false stories. There were no credible news reports confirming these claims. The story originated from a post (archived here) on Facebook by "America's…

Did singer Taylor Swift say that she'll force Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to leave the Chiefs next season if the team doesn't fire Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker? No, that's not true: This claim originated on the satirical network America's Last Line Of Defense. Their Facebook bio has the line, "Nothing on this page is real."…

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…

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…