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Did USAID place a real ad reading "Help Eliminate Elon" on a street in Washington, D.C., in February 2025? No, that's not true: As Capital Bikeshare, the owner of the bike stand ad box, stopped selling ads in April 2024 it would be an unauthorized posting, according to the person who was last in charge of selling the ads. Artist…

Did the Federal Emergency Management Agency fraudulently send $59 million to luxury hotels in New York City to "house illegal migrants"? It's complicated: A New York City Hall spokesperson told Lead Stories that New York "never paid luxury-hotel rates" and that about a third of the $59 million -- around $19 million -- covered "direct hotel costs." A Department of…

Did the set for ABC's talk show "The View" burn down amid the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the show told Lead Stories that the program has always been based in New York City. The website where the rumor appeared describes itself as specializing in "Satire and Parody." The image in the social…

Have British prime ministers attended U.S. presidential inaugurations on four occasions in the past 100 years? No, that's not true: A presidential historian told Lead Stories that no prime ministers from the U.K. attended a U.S. inauguration in the 20th century. Official records from the Department of State, Office of the Historian do not include any leaders from the United…

Did a large drone crash in New York City on Christmas Eve 2024 as claimed by a video posted on X? No, that's not true: There are several clues in the video that point to it being AI-generated and the account that posted it published several other similarly themed videos around the same time. True Media, an online AI detection…

Was a "No Incels" poster that appeared at a bus shelter in New York City an official ad for the social network Bluesky? No, that's not true: The poster was not a paid ad, the contractor that manages city bus shelter advertising told Lead Stories. The poster was placed there by "a person who had no authority to post anything,"…

Has the New York Police Department released the identity of a woman set on fire on a New York subway car as "Amelia Carter" as of December 24, 2024? No, that's not true: An agency spokesperson told Lead Stories that as of this writing, the "identification of the victim is pending." Police have, however, charged a suspect named "Sebastian Zapeta".…

Does a viral photo show the Altoona McDonald's employee who made the 911 call to report a sighting of Luigi Mangione in Pennsylvania? No, that's not true: The photo shows a comedian from New York. A profile on Facebook that contained the original version of the image also placed that person in New York, not Pennsylvania. The claim appeared in…

Does a video authentically show people in New York City celebrating the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson? No, that's not true: The video was posted online nearly two weeks ahead of the December 4, 2024, shooting death of Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. The video actually shows a street party in New York City after a concert by singer Natasha…

Does a video show UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson talking about working with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? No, that's not true: The Brian Thompson in the video is a different person. The Thompson in the video is an entrepreneur; the footage is from a speech he gave at a workshop in 2012. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…