Was a special Academy Award given to an entertainer or celebrity "for the extraordinary impact of her compassion and sustained service to American communities"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories claim that Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Coco Gauff, Danica Patrick and more than a dozen other celebrities were awarded the unusual Oscar. The stories were published by a network of websites and Facebook pages managed from Vietnam. There were no news articles about such an event and the stories contained verifiably false details.
One example of the claim originated in a post (archived here) published by Sisters of Sound Facebook page on December 16, 2025. It opened:
HISTORIC BREAKING NEWS: Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson have just stunned the entertainment world after receiving a rare Academy Award -- not for acting, not for music, but for the extraordinary impact of their compassion and decades of quiet service to American communities.
The entire Dolby Theatre rose in a thunderous standing ovation as the legendary sisters stepped onto the stage -- composed, humble, and visibly moved -- to accept an honor almost never given to musicians.But this moment had nothing to do with chart-topping hits, sold-out arenas, or the anthems that made Heart a global force.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Dec 18 16:16:29 2025 UTC)
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
The post continued:
Tonight, Hollywood recognized the other Ann and Nancy Wilson -- the women who have quietly fed families through community kitchens, funded youth and music-education programs, supported shelters, and invested time and resources into struggling communities for decades without ever seeking the spotlight.As soon as they began speaking, the room fell completely silent.And then came the unexpected twist -- a deeply personal story that left A-list actors wiping away tears, a confession the Wilson sisters had never shared publicly... until this moment demanded it.It was the single detail that made the entire audience gasp --
The Sisters of Sound Facebook page is managed from Vietnam and has changed its name several times in the past two years, according to Meta's transparency data.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
A Facebook search (archived here) for the keywords "stunned the entertainment world after receiving a rare Academy Award" returns a long feed of almost identical posts using other celebrities names. Among them: Jon Bon Jovi, Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Cher, Adrien Brody, Trace Adkins, Willie Nelson, Jennifer Connelly, Keith Richards and Kieran Culkin.
(Image source: Lead Stories video capture of Facebook search)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does have an honor that recognizes compassion. It is the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (archived here), given to one person every year since 1957. None of the names in these posts are on the list of honorees (archived here.)
The Vietnam connection is significant, since fact checkers, including Lead Stories, have identified a major source of AI-generated false stories coming from a single operation based in that Southeast Asian country. We have published at least 70 fact-check articles focused on this content.
Lead Stories has published a primer -- or a prebunk -- on how to identify these kinds of fake posts exported from Vietnam. It's titled Prebunk: Beware Of Fake Fan Pages Spreading False Stories About Your Favorite Celebrities -- How To Spot 'Viet Spam'
