Celebrities

Does an authentic video show Elon Musk promoting a Barbara O'Neill remedy for erectile dysfunction and prostatitis? No, that's not true: Two AI detection tools found that the video was likely manipulated using AI technology. Lead Stories has found other AI-generated endorsement videos for O'Neill, an unregistered health practitioner. The story appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook…

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…

Did Oprah Winfrey say she was leaving the U.S. in response to the 2024 presidential election results as a social media post claimed? No, that's not true: She was still in the U.S. hosting a podcast event at her California home after this social media post's publication. The post came from a Facebook account that categorizes itself as "satire/parody". The…

Did actress and singer Selena Gomez die in early December 2024 as an anonymously published article announced? No, that's not true: Gomez was alive as of December 12, 2024 as evidenced by public sightings and social media posts. The article appeared on a website full of other stories about celebrities supposedly passing away which was registered in Armenia only a…

Did Leonardo DiCaprio announce he was leaving the United States, saying, "This is not the country I want to live in," as of December 6, 2024? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the actor announced that he was leaving the U.S. as of this writing. No reputable news outlets reported that he decided to leave the country, nor…

Does a video prove that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bought a hotel in Courchevel, France, for 88 million euros ($93 million) in November 2024? No, that's not true: The video was based on a screenshot of a fake website mimicking the online page of a currently closed hotel. The current owner of the hotel described the posts sharing the video…

Did actor Robert Downey Jr. announce that he would leave the Marvel movie franchise and the U.S., stating, "Goodbye, I don't fit in here," as of December 2, 2024? No, that's not true: A Threads post that reported Downey's supposed announcement included a link that, when clicked, led to a "404 Error Page." Neither the original poster nor the website…

Have Visa, Etsy, Adobe, Android, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Mastercard, McDonald's, CVS Pharmacy, Home Depot and Walmart all stopped posting on Twitter, now called X? No, that's not true: There is no indication that the accounts named in this list have, in a coordinated fashion, stopped posting on the social media platform. Some of the accounts have not been very…

Did CNN publish an article saying more than 75,000 voters wrote in "Hawk Tuah" or "Talk Tuah" on their ballot papers? No, that's not true: Searches of the cnn.com website turned up no headlines containing the vulgar "Hawk Tuah" expression. A CNN representative also confirmed to Lead Stories that the image in a social media post was a fake. The…