Satire

Did former British Prime Minister Liz Truss blame "underground transgender mafia" for a KitKat chocolate heist? No, that's not true: The made-up quote originated from a satire account that had a history of attributing false statements about "underground transgender mafia" to Truss. As of this writing, no credible media outlet had reported the former prime minister making such a remark.…

Did President Donald Trump react with an angry Truth Social post after "only 17 people" turned out for a "Pro Kings" rally in Lexington, Kentucky? No, that's not true: The story originated on the satirical Substack page of comedy writer Andy Borowitz. Trump's Truth Social account showed no posts about such an event, despite what some social media posts claimed…

Does a viral screenshot deliver a real extract from Michael Wolff's book about U.S. President Donald Trump demanding a "gorilla channel" in the White House? No, that's not true: It's an old joke that first emerged in January 2018 as a response to the revelations in Michael Wolff's 'Fire and Fury.' Lead Stories confirmed that the book contains no mention…

Did President Donald Trump post a message on his Truth Social account saying that Queen Elizabeth should pardon former prince Andrew after his arrest? No, that's not true: The original message was posted by an account clearly marked as satire as the screenshot shows. "Luke Skywalker" actor Mark Hamill shared the fake post, apparently missing the satire label, to mock…

Is the story of a man with "eleven properties in the metaverse" (including a "beachfront villa in Horizon Worlds") whose net worth peaked at $1.2 million real? No, that's not true: It appeared on the X account of content creator and security researcher Peter Girnus. His account features several other satirical tall tales about being a leader or executive of…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump write a post about winning "the Iran thing" in a "Bigly" way on March 19, 2026? No, that's not true: The post did not originate from Trump's account. The image of the entry, as it first appeared on social media, carried a satire label. The claim originated from a post (archived here) published on X…

Is a new Disneyland theme park valued at "$100 billion" coming to Ohio as some social media posts claim? No, that's not true: The news originated on Mouse Trap News, a satirical publication specializing in Disney-related stories. The site described the story about a new park in Cincinnati as "totally made-up" in the footer of the article. The story came…

Did British actress Adjoa Andoh accuse the "Lord of the Rings" movies of blackface over a scene where Frodo's face was covered in ash? No, that's not true: Accounts that boosted the claim on social media as real took it from a self-described satire page. No credible news organizations reported the purported controversy. The story originated from a post (archived…

Did a U.K. teacher with the name "Ze Berry" actually refuse to teach students who came to school dressed as Harry Potter and Dobby the Elf? No, that's not true: The story was initially published by a meme page. Two online detectors identified the image of "Ze Berry" as AI-generated. The story originated from a post (archived here) on Facebook…

Did an Army prankster insert a photo of Jeffrey Epstein captioned "WHY WE FIGHT" into a "Manual for Warfighters" published by Pete Hegseth? No, that's not true: That story came from a satirical account on X that posts comedy content. There were no news reports about any such prank involving 100,000 printed copies for "soldiers training to invade Iran". The…