Andrew Tate

Did the appearance of a name and number on pizza boxes delivered to former professional kickboxer Andrew Tate in a video he posted lead to his arrest by Romanian authorities on December 29, 2022? No, that's not true: Ramona Bolla, a spokeswoman for the country's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), said in a phone interview with Lead…

Was "Russia's most advanced nuclear submarine' seen floating in Hawaii on December 26, 2022? No, that's not true: A social media post making the claim uses footage from a fictional TV show. The story appeared in a post published on Facebook on December 26, 2022. It contained a video of what appeared to show a beach crowd surprisingly observing an…

Is there a facility that can produce 30,000 lab-grown human babies per year from embryos incubated in artificial wombs? No, that's not true: A video that depicts "the world's first Artificial Womb Facility" is a promotional advertisement for a "concept" by Hashem Al-Ghaili, who describes himself as "a producer, filmmaker and science communicator" and a "molecular biologist by trade." Though…

Does a video show Arizona ballots falling out of trash can on an escalator, implying possible election fraud? No, that's not true: The footage, taken in Australia, was uploaded two months before the November 2022 Arizona mid-term election. The 7-second clip is from a YouTube channel that publishes "funny, interesting and strange stuff." The claim appeared in a video published…

Does the southeast Asian country of Myanmar use the same voting machines as the United States in its elections? No, that's not true: According to a spokesperson for the Asian Network for Free Elections, a non-governmental organization that works to promote democracy in Asia, Myanmar has not used voting machines in its elections at all. The claim, which has also…

Did a lethal amount of fentanyl kill George Floyd while he was being subdued by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin? No, that's not true: The autopsy report from the Hennepin County, Minnesota, medical examiner's office said the cause of death was "Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression." The claim appeared in an Instagram post on October…

Does the United Nations flag prove that the Earth is flat? No, that's not true: According to the UN website, its flag shows a projection of the planet, centered on the North Pole. Like three-dimensional school globes, the UN emblem proportionately reproduces actual distances, but in a two-dimensional form. The claim about the UN flag reappeared in a TikTok video…

Does a video of Sen. Ted Cruz questioning current FBI Director Christopher Wray or former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe expose either man in a lie about the circumstances surrounding the August 8, 2022, search of Mar-a-Lago, the Florida home of former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The video of Cruz is spliced together from separate congressional hearings…

Was water in the Hudson River boiling? And was bubbling related to a nuclear power plant that was supposed to be nearby? No, neither claim is true: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) told Lead Stories via email that the power plant shown in the post is not nuclear, but a natural gas power plant. DEC is…

Did a judge seal the court case of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell? No, that's not true: The majority of the documents from the case are available to the public and were shown during her trial. Only one piece of evidence remains sealed from the trial. U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan ruled in November 2021 that only the portions…