Did Mel Gibson say that Hollywood is controlled by "parasites" who are involved in child sacrifice and pedophilia? No, there is nothing to substantiate the old claim that Gibson said it while on a promotional tour in 2017. The actor's spokesman told Lead Stories, "I can assure you that he never said such a thing ... he never stated that…
Was Austin's Stevie Ray Vaughan statue vandalized in 2020? Yes, that's true, but a viral image of paint on the rear side of the Vaughan memorial is from a 2018 incident blamed on a football fan after his team won the SuperBowl. A second photo showing "FTP" painted on the music icon's chest was apparently the result of a May…
Was U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Wuhan, China, six days after the impeachment proceedings against President Trump ended? No, that is not true. Not even close, according to government records.. She was in California six days after the House impeachment -- and in Kansas City in plain view, six days after the Senate voted February 5, 2020, to acquit…
Did the New York Jets sign free agent Colin Kaepernick to a one-year, $9 million contract? No, that is not true: Kaepernick was not signed to a new deal with the NFL's Jets. A Tweet was sent from an account with a photo that looked like ESPN's SportsCenter logo -- but with the name "SuperToughScene" -- claiming Kaepernick signed with…
Anne Brown, a staff writer and fact-checker for Lead Stories, is the former Senior Director of Special Events at CNN. Over the course of her 30-plus year career in television news based at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, she covered major events both domestic and international, winning Emmy and Peabody awards along the way. Brown led on-location production and logistics…
Did scientists claim the Wuhan coronavirus is an HIV-1 engineered hybrid "superweapon"? No, that's not true: The scientific research cited in a video making the claim has not been peer-reviewed, and the authors have withdrawn the paper, saying they intend to revise their interpretation of the results. The claim originated from a post (archived here) published by STFN Reloaded on…
Can you do sixteen easy tests at home to check if your food is "real or fake"? No, that's not true: a viral video making that claim seems to be based mostly on examples from China or India and several of the "tests" are not adequately explained making the results useless. There are some bits of real advice in there…
Did Nancy Pelosi order Attorney General Barr to be placed under "congressional detention"? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the need to actually click and read links before sharing or liking them in order to avoid being embarrassed by fans of the site…
Did Nancy Pelosi have a 150-year-old sign removed from the House Chamber entrance? And did the sign say "In God we trust"? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the need to actually click and read links before sharing or liking them in order…
Did Pope Francis compare Christians to a fungus during an address in Morocco? No, that's not true: The speech quoted in misleading stories included the pope quoting a biblical passage in which Jesus responds to a question about the nature of the Kingdom of God by saying "It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three…
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