Riots

Did actor Vin Diesel pull his $1 million annual donation to Boy Scouts of America while being quoted as saying, "It's no longer the organization I know and love"? No, that's not true: A representative of The Boy Scouts of America organization told Lead Stories this claim is "patently false." This fake quote came from a post on the Facebook…

Did singer Taylor Swift say that she'll force Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to leave the Chiefs next season if the team doesn't fire Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker? No, that's not true: This claim originated on the satirical network America's Last Line Of Defense. Their Facebook bio has the line, "Nothing on this page is real."…

Does a video in a social media post show "Muslim migrants" destroying public property because an Israeli singer was featured in the Eurovision song contest? No, that's not true: The footage shows a 2009 anti-Israel demonstration in Sweden that turned violent. That 2009 demonstration occurred during a tennis tournament and was not related to that year's Eurovision contest, which was…

Did country music star Jason Aldean say a "straight day of visibility concert" is happening? No, that's not true: This article originated from a website that labels itself satire. The site has a disclaimer that describes it as part of a network of "parody, satire, and tomfoolery." There is no evidence to support the claim that Aldean said this. The…

Was actress Whoopi Goldberg "fired" from her hosting position on "The View" in March 2024? No, that's not true: The Facebook page this claim appeared on explicitly labels themselves a "Network of Satire and Parody." Lead Stories could find no evidence that Goldberg had been released from her job on "The View." The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived…

Did country singer-songwriter Garth Brooks say he would leave the U.S. permanently because he felt there is "No Respect For Me Here"? No, that's not true: The site that originally posted the claim says its satirical articles are "not meant to be taken seriously." Brooks' website states that he is to perform at concerts based in the United States for…

Did "Budweiser brands" not get invited to The Great American Beer Festival for the first time since 1982? No, that's not true: A representative from The Great American Beer Festival told Lead Stories that this claim was "incorrect." There is also a sentence in the article making this claim that says that what the satire site posts is not "necessarily…

Did insurance companies Cigna and UnitedHealthcare add new text that denies health care if a person has been affected by a war in 2024? No, that's not true: This language has been included in Cigna's and UnitedHealthcare's insurance policies in the past. Lead Stories found multiple examples of this clause in policies during previous years. The claim appeared in a…

Did the Walt Disney Company lose 23 million subscribers after "trying to cancel Elon Musk"? No, that's not true: This claim appeared in an article on a satirical website known for publishing fabricated content. The website has a disclaimer that reads, "Everything on this website is fiction." The claim appeared in an article published by The Dunning-Kruger Times on November…

Did the Irish government deploy military vehicles to stop people expressing public outrage about the stabbings of children and a woman in Dublin? No, that's not true: According to the Irish Defence Forces, an image that showed military vehicles in Dublin posted on X on November 23, 2023, had "no connection" to an attempt by riot police to stop rioting…