Hollywood

Did Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum address President Donald Trump in a speech about "7 billion consumers ready to replace" their American products and vacations with non-American ones? No, that's not true: Lead Stories could not find any evidence that Sheinbaum ever said that to Trump, let alone publicly. Neither the website of the Mexican government nor Google News, among other…

Did President Donald Trump call actress Selena Gomez "the third amigo" in a Truth Social post? No, that's not true: There was no such post on the social media platform Truth Social. A search of Google News brought up no news reports confirming the post ever existed and in fact showed several articles that explained it was fake. The claim…

Are there 45 electric firetrucks in Los Angeles that had to go back to the fire department for 10 hours a day to recharge while the January 2025 wildfires burned? No, that's not true: According to a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson the LAFD "has only one electric fire engine and no electric fire trucks" and that one is equipped…

Does a video show real wildfire scenes of firefighters in rugged terrain, fire raging and a suburban neighborhood in California? No, that's not true: This video on Facebook is AI generated. Lead Stories tracked the source of a clip in this video back to a TikTok creator who has their account marked, "AI Lover." They have published 69 AI generated…

Were the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires intentionally set to implement "smart city" technology across Los Angeles? No, that's not true: While the cause of the wildfires had not been determined at the time of writing, the "smart city" effort to improve technology for municipalities does not include intentionally destroying them first. Los Angeles unveiled its plan to eventually add…

Was the "Hollywood" sign a casualty of the fires burning in Los Angeles County as of January 9, 2025? No, that's not true: When this fact check was written, the sign was "safe and secure," according to the organization that preserves the sign. Media supposedly showing the sign being on fire were likely generated through artificial intelligence or by simple…

Did George Clooney leave the United States permanently for England after Donald Trump was elected president in 2024, with Clooney saying he "can't take the red wave anymore"? No, that's not true: This originated from SpaceX Fanclub, a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer: "We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real." The first comment under the post included…

Was UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson about to testify against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for insider trading before his death on December 4, 2024? No, that's not true: There's no evidence connecting his death to insider trading allegations involving Pelosi, nor has Pelosi been accused of such a crime. However, in May 2024, Thompson was named in an insider trading…

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…