Society

Does CCTV footage authentically capture a bear's intrusion into a woman's bedroom? No, that's not true: The clip contained several visual artifacts consistent with generative AI production. Among those is a piece of furniture partially absorbed by a wall. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on October 2, 2025, on X, under the caption that read: This…

Did People magazine publish a satirical image of Donald Trump dressed like Marie Antoinette to illustrate an article about the White House Ballroom construction project? No, that's not true: People magazine illustrated the article with a standard portrait photo of Trump wearing a blue suit with red tie. A fake screenshot used the real article's headline and People logo --…

Did Buffalo Bills Coach Sean McDermott tell the press that he will pull his team from the 2026 Super Bowl because of the National Football League's choice to make Bad Bunny the 2026 halftime performer? No, that's not true: The Facebook page that said McDermott made such remarks wrote it happened before journalists but there were no actual news report…

Does a video depict a true story of an IDF soldier who converted to Islam and became an activist for Palestine? No, that's not true: The video uses clips showing several different women to illustrate a made-up story. The woman dancing in the first scene wearing an Israeli Army uniform is eyebrow artist Karin Edri. The woman pictured leading the…

Do viral clips with a pop-up warning advising people "under 18 years old" against watching videos of the "overcrowded Oktoberfest" show dramatic events in Munich, Germany? No, that's not true: It's engagement bait added to routine video of the annual beer and folk culture festival. Such pop-up banners attempt to make social media users hit "like" or "follow" buttons as…

Does an authentic video on TikTok show Keith Urban saying that "Nicole cheated"? No, that's not true: The video has been edited with a fake voice. The original video interview was published by Variety in 2024 and featured Urban trying to guess which of his songs certain lyrics came from. The topic of the reason for the marriage breakup was…

Did the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, or any team, petition the NFL to replace Bad Bunny as the performer for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show? No, that's not true: There have been no team announcements of such a demand, and no news media has reported on…

Does a video show a crowd on a beach in Gaza who came to greet the arriving Samud Flotilla? No, that's not true: The crowd in the video gathered on Sidi Bou Said beach near Tunis, which is 1,400 miles across the Mediterranean Sea from Gaza. The video was filmed Sept. 10, 2025, weeks before the flotilla approached Gaza. The…

Did Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, make public remarks about a third pregnancy in September 2025? No, that's not true: No such announcement appeared on her social media accounts. Furthermore, no credible journalistic organizations reported that between the September 10, 2025, assassination of Charlie Kirk and October 1, 2025. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Does a video show something surprising that happened during Blake Shelton's appearance on "The View"? No, that's not true: Clickbait publishers on social media have put out many fake stories about clashes between Shelton and the hosts of "The View". Shelton has never been a guest on "The View", which means none of these stories are true. One example of…

Was a Trump 2020 graphic digitally added to a family photo of Michigan LDS church shooting suspect Thomas J. Sanford? No, that's not true: The picture with the Trump 2020 graphic is the original, posted publicly on Facebook in 2019 and unchanged. Social media commenters later posted an edited version that removed the Trump logo. The original photo is still…

Did "all of India's telemarketers" threaten "to go on strike permanently" if the U.S. places increased tariffs on imports from that country? No, that's not true: No media organizations reported that. The viral post that resurfaced at the end of September 2025 appeared to be a joke. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on September…

Did the public school system in Hamburg, Germany ban music lessons to avoid offending Muslims who view them to be forbidden or 'haram'? No, that's not true: The Hamburg public schools did no such thing. A German language news report has been misrepresented in social media posts. The report followed the signing of a joint statement by religious representatives and…

Does a viral image show the man suspected of the September 28, 2025, Michigan church attack? Yes, that's true: The photo originated from an old page on Facebook documenting the medical condition of the man's son, who was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease. What was shared on social media was a slightly cropped version of that picture, but the…

Does a viral photo document ISIS militants parading caged Yazidi women through Mosul, Iraq in 2016 before burning them to death? No, that's not true: The photo was taken in Alexandria, Egypt in 2013. It appeared in the Sharkia Today news site's coverage of Egyptian female protesters staging a symbolic demonstration unrelated to the burning deaths, which were reported to…

Does a viral image authentically show "Richard Miller" surrounded by "nine Black girls that nobody wanted" 46 years after he adopted them? No, that's not true: According to three AI detectors and Lead Stories' manual review of the picture, it's highly likely to be a product of generative AI. Lead Stories found no reports by credible media organizations confirming the…

Did Thomas Jacob Sanford of Burton Michigan, who was identified as the Grand Blanc, Michigan LDS church shooter, regularly donate to the American Democratic Party ActBlue political action committee? No, that's not true: A screenshot circulating on social media shows Federal Election Commission records of donations made in 2025 from several people named Thomas Sanford, but none of them are…

Did a group of men attack a children's baseball field in Katy, Texas - shooting a coach who was leading a prayer? No, that's not true: A coach was hit by a stray bullet and taken by helicopter to the hospital - but the shooting does not appear to have been intentional or planned. Police said the three men arrested…

Did Nicole Sirotek get a 4 a.m. call from the husband of a pregnant woman dying of liver failure after she took a large dose of Tylenol to disprove President Donald Trump's declaration that acetaminophen causes autism? Here's what we know: Sirotek, who Lead Stories has previously fact-checked for COVID misinformation, posted the anecdote on social media September 24, 2025,…

After Charlie Kirk was killed, Did Elon Musk announce that he would be ending every partnership tied to LGBTQ+ brands? No, that's not true: This made-up story used names and themes trending in September 2025 to drive clicks to a website. There is no evidence supporting this fake narrative about Musk; no legitimate reporting, no quoted statements, and no tweets…