Disney

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…

Did Disney say it was adding Kamala Harris to its Hall of Presidents? No, that's not true: The story originated from self-described satire and parody website Mouse Trap News, which says on its site, "We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff." Lead Stories could not locate any credible evidence of Disney having made such an announcement. The claim appeared…

Did Elon Musk permanently ban LGBTQ+ Pride content from X because "protecting kids comes first"? No, that's not true: The account that posted this incorrect information is from a self-described satirical Facebook page that explains, "We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real." The word "SATIRE" is at the end of the post's caption. Lead Stories could not find…

Did "5 celebrities" -- Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, celebrity couple Beyoncé Knowles and Jay Z Carter, Kanye West and Usher Raymond -- flee the United States after Sean "Diddy" Combs' arrest on sex crimes charges in September 2024? No, that's not true: News reports with photographs and social media posts show DiCaprio, Lopez, Knowles, Carter and Raymond all were in…

Did a scene from an episode of "The Simpsons" predict Hurricane Milton by showing that name on-screen during a Kent Brockman news broadcast segment? No, that's not true: A clip from the episode was altered to add the words "Hurricane Milton," a storm that made landfall in October 2024. The actual episode featured a storm named Hurricane Barbara. The claim…

Do viral images authentically capture the massive destruction caused by Hurricane Milton at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida? No, that's not true: Those pictures were generated by AI and first posted on a website with a satire label. On October 11, 2024, Disney announced it had reopened its theme parks. The claim appeared in a video (archived here)…

Did the CEO of ABC hint that the network may cancel "The View," saying "It's time to end a show that's lost its relevance"? No, that's not true: The website that originally reported this comes with a satire label. Neither ABC itself nor news websites have published anything about the ABC CEO hinting about a potential cancellation and some of…

Did Michael Jordan reject a $400 million offer from Disney, saying he does not "collaborate with companies aligned with woke ideologies"? No, that's not true: An AI detector found that the article that said so was 99.9 percent likely to be AI-generated. The media didn't report that Jordan or his representatives rejected an offer from Disney. The claim appeared in…

Does a scene from an episode of "The Simpsons" show that Lisa Simpson would win an election against former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: An image from an episode in which Trump did not appear was altered to substitute Trump's likeness, including the bandage he wore after a July, 2024 assassination attempt. The episode actually features a different,…

Did Disney and Google buy the rights to the first King James Version of the Bible? No, that's not true: No sources are cited in the Instagram post where the claim is stated. The claim first appeared in a 2018 article from The Babylon Bee, a well-known satirical website. Lead Stories could not find any supporting evidence that would corroborate…