Fact Check

Did a viral video authentically show a woman being pulled high into the air by a hot air balloon after her foot got stuck in a rope? No, that's not quite true: The footage was not digitally edited or AI-generated, but it did not show a real, dangerous accident. Rather, it was a controlled stunt used by a French circus…

Did a viral post tell a true story about "Baby Elijah", abandoned outside a hospital at three months old, then adopted by a woman named Rachel? No, that's not true: The story, and images that came with it, did not describe real people or real events. The account that first posted the story describes its photos and stories as "AI…

Did Chelsea FC photoshop President Trump out of their official trophy raising photo after the FIFA Club World Cup final? No, that's not true: A viral image that was digitally edited to remove Trump from the scene did not appear on the soccer club's official social media accounts. The image they actually posted does show Trump in the background. The…

Is Paige Bueckers 0-4 in collegiate and WNBA games that match her up against Caitlin Clark, as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: Bueckers and the University of Connecticut Huskies defeated Clark and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 92-72 in the 2021 NCAA tournament. At the time the claim was posted, Clark and the Indiana Fever had…

Does a viral video show Piera Mosque in Barcelona, Spain on fire? No, that's not true: The viral footage with a caption about Spaniards burning "Piera Mosque" in that city actually shows a fire in Indonesia. That fire happened in Jakarta in 2022 during a renovation mishap. A fire did take place in a mosque in Piera on July 14,…

Did a Mexican search and rescue team sent to the scene of the July 2025 flooding in Kerr County, Texas rescue a sheriff's daughter, as social media posts claim? No, that's not true: Although Mexican rescue crews were in fact sent to help when Independence Day rain caused flash flooding along the Guadalupe River, there is no publicly available documentation…

Was a teddy bear found at a bus station in California wrapped in real human skin in July 2025? No, that's not true: An artist in South Carolina claimed responsibility for the creation and said it was made using latex. "Dark Seed Creations" said they recently sold the bear to someone in Victorville, California, but they were unaware it would…

Does a viral video show a July 13, 2025, plane crash at London Southend Airport? No, that's not true: The footage predates it. It captures an airshow in South Africa that resulted in one plane hitting the ground and killing the pilot. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on July 13, 2025. It opened: The…

Did ICE arrest Mexican nationals who helped flood recovery efforts, and did Texas Gov. Greg Abbott say "I support ICE deporting the Mexicans who helped during the floods"? No, that's not true: A viral TikTok video contained a fabricated story about ICE "aiming weapons" at the rescuers and "loading them into vans". A clip of Abbott contained fake audio and…

Did a viral story about singer Robert Plant donating $1.5 million to Texas flood victims come from a reliable source? No, that's not true: The article appeared on a clickbait site that published several other fake stories about celebrity donations in the recent past. Even though the story claimed there were "no cameras or press crews" it was illustrated with…

Does a viral photo authentically show Beyonce wearing a tank top with a Star of David while having an Israeli flag draped over her arms? No, that's not true: The image has been digitally manipulated based on an older original. The original picture shows no such tank top and shows red, white and blue tassels hanging from the singer's arms.…

Is a viral video a real news report about a "Sheriff Larry Leda" saying he'd apply for a green card for the Mexican rescue team that saved his family? No, that's not true: The footage in the viral video came from a press conference during which the phrase "green card" was not said and the caption in the video spelled…

Did President Donald Trump post on his Truth Social account that he was "giving serious consideration to taking away" Rosie O'Donnell's citizenship? Yes, that's true: The message appeared on Trump's Truth Social account at approximately 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, July 12, 2025. The post was still visible at the time of writing, about two hours later. The president…

Was Monkee Micky Dolenz rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after a tragic accident following a visit to Texas flood victims? No, that's not true: Dolenz posted a video on his Facebook page asking fans to ignore and not share posts making the claim. Lead Stories co-founder Alan Duke -- the writer of this fact check -- personally talked to…

Does a viral video really show a woman falling over and dropping a large rock on a glass bridge full of tourists, collapsing it? No, that's not true: The video originated on the account of "Stjepan Covic", who describes himself as an AI "Creator". The description of the video had a disclaimer indicating it was "created with artificial intelligence for…

Did FBI Director Kash Patel declassify records detailing Hillary Clinton's and Vladimir Putin's ties to the 'James Comey Scandal'? No, that's not true: The viral rumor originated from a comedian's page. Neither the FBI nor credible media organizations said anything about the purported "trove" of "intelligence documents". The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on July…

Did a widely-shared video authentically show Liberian President Joseph Boakai attacking the "racially prejudiced attitude" of his American counterpart Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The video included fake audio, likely the product of AI. The underlying footage of Boakai was in fact recorded in 2017. The video appeared in a July 10, 2025, post on TikTok (archived here) with…

Did a widely-shared video show a real Mexican soldier speaking to camera and saying "We're to help the people of Texas"? No, that's not true: The clip was produced using AI. The video contained telltale glitches such as the soldier's name badge reading "MEXICIO" instead of his name, and a small watermark in the corner of the video signified that…

Do viral photos really show a father with Down syndrome named Ben and his son Noah? No, that's not true: According to several detection tools the images were generated using artificial intelligence. Several variations of the pictures are making the rounds, but none of the ones reviewed by Lead Stories are real. An example of such an image could be…

Did X Engineering post that "bookmarks will be public for accounts that are not subscribed to X Premium" starting next week? No, that's not true: A falsified screenshot showed such a post made on July 10, 2025 but in reality it did not appear on the account. The faked screenshot originally appeared on a parody account on X. The faked…