Entertainment

Did Whoopi Goldberg, Megan Rapinoe and Taylor Swift announce they were leaving the United States, presumably after Donald Trump's return as president? No, that's not true: The article cited in the comments of a social media post making this claim did not offer any quotes or sources to confirm this. A review of the social media accounts of Goldberg, Rapinoe…

Did President Donald Trump call actress Selena Gomez "the third amigo" in a Truth Social post? No, that's not true: There was no such post on the social media platform Truth Social. A search of Google News brought up no news reports confirming the post ever existed and in fact showed several articles that explained it was fake. The claim…

Did basketball great Michael Jordan call for a ban on the pride flag from U.S. schools and sports? No, that's not true: The website that published the article has a satire disclaimer and is known for publishing fabricated content. The article also identifies its content as "SATIRE." No credible reports support the assertion that Jordan called to ban pride flags.…

Does an authentic image show Taylor Swift giving a right-handed salute similar to the gesture used by Nazis? No, that's not true: The image has been horizontally flipped to make it look like Swift had performed a right-handed salute, a defining characteristic of the Nazi "Sieg Heil" gesture. Archived video shows Swift, wearing the same outfit with the same hairstyle,…

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…

Did a Facebook post confirm that Whoopi Goldberg's house burned during the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires? No, that's not true: The website the rumor was found on described itself as a page specializing in "Satire and Parody News," adding that their team is "dedicated" to bringing readers "the latest and greatest in fake news." The image seen in the…

Has Oprah Winfrey died as of January 17, 2025, as implied by viral social media posts? No, that's not true: An article attached to a post implying that Winfrey died did not provide evidence of her supposed death nor mention anywhere in the article text that she had died. Winfrey was active on her verified social media accounts the same…

Does footage show an authentic panic in Paris as people react to a UFO and an unidentified submerged object (USO) in the Seine River? No, that's not true: The video is from a film shoot. The footage is from the production of "Under Paris," a 2024 movie about a shark in the Seine. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Does an authentic video show Taylor Swift saying that the 2025 Los Angeles fires are divine retribution for American actions in Gaza? No, that's not true: The original footage dates back to a 2021 appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." Analysis tools determined with 100 percent confidence that the voice added to the clip on social media is…

Does a video show real images from a 2007 episode of "The Simpsons" that predicted the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires? No, that's not true: None of the images in the video posted on social media were shown in the episode cited in the video, episode 12 of season 18 of "The Simpsons." The images used in the video on social…

Did a post on Facebook confirm that actor Chuck Norris died in a "fatal car accident" in January 2025? No, that's not true: Norris' attorney told Lead Stories that the post was "not correct" and that he had spoken with Norris the day this article was written. Images seen in the post on Facebook had been digitally altered to appear…

Does a photo authentically show rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs' home being destroyed by the January 2025 Los Angeles fires? No, that's not true: This is not Combs' house. Rather, the photo shows an Ohio mansion that burned down in 2014, predating the Los Angeles fires by over a decade. As of January 13, 2025, Lead Stories found no evidence that…

Did celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay kick athlete Lia Thomas out of his restaurant, saying, "I don't let woke people dine here"? No, that's not true: A spokeswoman for Studio Ramsay Global said, "SpaceX Fan Club clearly state that none of their stories are true." This story originally appeared on a website with a satire disclaimer that's known for publishing fabricated…

Did actor Keanu Reeves refuse to present actress Whoopi Goldberg with the Lifetime Achievement award, saying, "She's not a good person"? No, that's not true: This information came from a self-described satirical website that includes the disclaimer, "Everything on this website is fiction." A representative of Reeves also told Lead Stories that this is "absolutely false." The claim appeared in…

Did Elon Musk start a public campaign in early January 2025 to cancel "The View"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no confirmation that Musk posted what was attributed to him. No media organizations indexed by Google News reported on what was described as a public campaign. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Threads on January…

Does a video authentically show "new footage leaked" of music producer Sean "Diddy" Combs riding a "dirt bike" in prison? No, that's not true: The video clip in this social media post began circulating on Instagram several months before Combs' September 2024 arrest. A Federal Bureau of Prisons representative told Lead Stories that this claim is false, saying, "No incarcerated…

Did a Facebook post prove Elon Musk and Taylor Swift jointly endorsed a power-saving device called "Stop Watt"? No, that's not true: There is no record of either Musk or Swift publicly endorsing this product. Photos used in social media posts that reported the supposed endorsement were found to have likely been AI-generated. These posts included a link to a…

Has actor Jim Carrey died as of December 15, 2024? No, that's not true: The actor was seen alive in public following the publication of an article that reported his supposed death. The website that published this article contained other articles that falsely reported celebrity deaths and did not list validating information. No information about Carrey's supposed death was reported…

Does a video shared to Instagram authentically show a car-sized drone or flying object flying over the Las Vegas Strip? No, that's not true: The original video was posted to TikTok with a caption stating, "This video was created digitally." The profile that initially published the video is self-described as "Mixed reality. Definitely not CIA." The claim appeared in a…

Does a photo show basketball star LeBron James kissing an unidentified man in Paris? No, that's not true: A reverse image search showed that the men in the photo are a couple who go by the screen name "TeeAndDrew." An online news search for any credible evidence that the event described in the post actually happened came up empty. The…