International

Did Johnny Depp, Eminem, Cher, Paul McCartney or any other celebrity tell Donald Trump "You're tearing families apart ... Shame on you" at a live town hall meeting on immigration? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and more than 40 other celebrities were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were no news…

Does a viral image show an "official photo" of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro after he was captured by the U.S.? No, that's not true: Lead Stories didn't find any evidence that the picture originated from government websites or elected officials. The image showed two unusual rows of windows in the background, a pattern that did not appear in photographs of any…

Did a blonde woman take a selfie showing a handcuffed Nicolás Maduro in the back seat of a car? No, that's not true: This is not a real photo. Google's Gemini detected a SynthID watermark embedded in the image indicating that all or part of it was created or edited with Google AI. The AI-generated image appeared in a post…

Does a video show real footage of a U.K. member of Parliament asking why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been captured the same way the United States captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela? No, that's not true: The clip was generated using artificial intelligence. Early versions of the video included a watermark indicating a specific generative AI tool. There…

Does a viral image show a real news report saying that U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' office "tried to tip off" Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro before his capture? No, that's not true: No such report could be found. Neither CBS News, nor any other media outlet published news of such a leak. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Did Republican representative Jack Kimble make a post about other countries potentially invading the U.S. "if we ever had" a "highly corrupt leader" as President? No, that's not true: The post was satire from an account on X that pretends to be a non-existent Republican politician. A screenshot of the post that went viral did not identify the account as…

Does a viral image show Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro captured? No, that's not true: An authentic photo was digitally altered to swap Maduro's head onto the body of a captive. The image originally showed Ukrainian-born pro-Russian businessman and politician Victor Medvedchuk. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on January 3, 2026. It read: 😁The White House…

Does a viral video show missiles raining down from the clouds on Caracas, Venezuela on January 3, 2026? No, that's not true: A viral video making the rounds does not show the actual attacks that took place on that date. It is an old video from 2025 that was described at the time as missiles from Iran impacting Tel Aviv.…

Does an image shared by President Trump in a Truth Social post that reads "Eagles going down!" show an American eagle killed by a wind turbine? No, that's not true: The photograph used to illustrate Trump's post is of a European red kite killed by a wind turbine in Spain at least 15 years earlier. This was the second time…

Did BMW launch a motorized unicycle at the 2026 Tech Expo? No, that's not true: The AI-generated video was published by a channel with a disclaimer that they "explore the future of technology, artificial intelligence, and robotics." This same channel has published similar AI-generated videos showcasing one-wheel vehicles that purportedly came from Honda, Ferrari, Ducati, and Tesla. Searches for press…

Are windmills -- also known as wind turbines -- killing all of the bald eagles in the United States, as President Donald Trump claimed in a Truth Social post? No, that's not true: Studies estimate the number of eagles killed by wind turbines in the contiguous 48 U.S. states was in the hundreds in 2024, including both bald and golden…

Is an archived page of a Melania Trump profile on "A Foreign Affair" mail-order bride website from 1996 real? No, that's not true: The purported page was never archived on the Wayback Machine servers, Internet Archive director Mark Graham told Lead Stories. "What you see is a doctored image," he said. An analysis done with help from the Wayback Machine's…

Were Novak Djokovic, Barbra Streisand, Cher, Dolly Parton and dozens of other celebrities each honored with a full-body bronze statue on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? No, that's not true: The exact same story, usually just altered by changing the name of the celebrity, appeared on dozens of sites and Facebook pages run from Vietnam. There were no real news…

Does a video show a large cruise ship abandoned in the desert by Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia? No, that's not true: No legitimate news organization has reported it, though a massive engineering feat such as this undertaken by a political leader would be newsworthy to local, national and world newsrooms. The video is AI-generated. Two clips showing…

Does a viral clip document a real bridge collapse in Norway? No, that's not true: No such event, which would have attracted media attention worldwide, was covered by legitimate news organizations. Multiple visual artifacts show it's an AI creation, including unrealistic movements by the bridge and abnormally behaving trucks. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X…

Was Jon-Bernard Kairouz confronted about his appearance in pictures from newly released Epstein files while being interviewed on Fox News? No, that's not true: The viral video did not show a real Fox News segment. In what appears to be a digitally produced clip, Kairouz, who is a comedian, is seen making a satirical sketch. Kairouz is not mentioned in…

Did Austria reveal the stage design for Eurovision 2026 is a swastika? No, that's not true: The image is fake and was posted by a satire account which says they have been "Spreading misinformation on the internet since 1827". On Dec. 16, 2025 eurovision.com announced German stage designer Florian Wieder has envisioned a stage in the shape of a curved…

Does a viral image really show the "leaked Facebook profile" of the "Bondi Beach shooter" and does it reveal he is an Israeli named "David Cohen"? No, that's not true: The image circulating on social media shows several signs of digital tampering and possible use of AI. Authorities have named "Naveed Akram" and "Sajid Akram" as the shooters in the…

Does the 1986 Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, "authored" by U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, make it legal to "blow drug boats out of the water"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories reviewed the text of the law, and it says nothing about an unrestricted use of lethal force. An expert in maritime law confirmed to Lead Stories that the Act…

Does actual drone footage show a giant "eclipse Octopus" in the Gulf of America (sometimes also called the Gulf of Mexico)? No, that's not true: The video originated on a TikTok channel with a disclaimer that says it publishes videos made with artificial intelligence tools and which posted many other faked animal videos. The "octopus" in the video also had…