Fact Check

Did California Governor Gavin Newsom win the Nobel Peace Prize on October 7, 2025? No, that's not true: The story originated in a post by satirist Andy Borowitz. The 2025 prize was scheduled to be announced on October 10. The story appeared in an October 7, 2025, post on Facebook (archived here), which stated: OSLO--Donald J. Trump reportedly "exploded with…

Did Detroit singer Kid Rock call rapper Bad Bunny "a man in a dress" and criticize the NFL's selection of the Puerto Rican rapper for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show? No, that's not true: There's no public record of such a remark by Kid Rock. There is no mention of the 2026 halftime show on Rock's social media accounts…

Did Charlie Kirk's organization Turning Point USA announce they're doing their own Super Bowl halftime concert to protest the official halftime concert featuring Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny? No, that's not true: The organization has made no announcement about hosting their own show during an alternate Super Bowl halftime show as of publication date. On October 1, 2025, Andrew Kolvet,…

Did a variety of celebrities, from Fifty Cent to the White House press secretary, respond with public comments after Bad Bunny joked on Saturday Night Live that Americans had four months to learn Spanish before his Super Bowl halftime appearance? No, that's not true: This is a fake controversy drummed up by a network of clickbait publishers overseas. A flood…

Did U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi file a petition requesting to remove Bad Bunny from the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show? No, that's not true: Lead Stories searched publicly available documents from the Department of Justice and found no such petition. No credible media organizations reported on any such official action. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Did the Russian cities of Vyborg, Petrozavodsk, and Murmansk decide with an overwhelming majority vote to leave Russia and join Finland? No, that's not true: This fictional multipart story is illustrated with an AI-generated image of "unidentified militants" and a fictional map of "Greater Finland". The fake news narrative is a twist on an idea from the early 1900s regarding…

Did President Trump sign an executive order demanding that Universal Music Group sign his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to a multi-album record deal? No, that's not true: The claim posted on a self-described parody account on X has no basis in reality. The White House website does not mention such an executive order. President Trump has not posted anything about it…

Did Nike or Under Armour donate face masks and clothing to ICE agents involved in arresting undocumented immigrants in the United States? No, that's not true: The TikTok host making the claim gave no supporting information about how he confirmed the claim. Lead Stories found no evidence to support the claim and several red flags raising questions about the credibility…

Did Donald Trump once say he had talked to the "President of Puerto Rico", as social media posts claim? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no public record of Trump ever saying that. He did, in 2017, say he had talked to the "President of the Virgin Islands," a gaffe which his staff at that time cleared up in…

Is Alisa Kasmer, the woman who posted a long message on Facebook attacking Stephen Miller, really Miller's cousin? Yes, that's true: Kasmer's post claimed that she babysat Miller and he is her first cousin. Lead Stories researched the White House Deputy Chief of Staff's family tree and confirmed that Kasmer, 43, is the daughter of Miller's paternal aunt. Photographs included…

Does a video show the moment Marimar Martinez was shot by a federal agent in southwest Chicago after she allegedly rammed a Department of Homeland Security SUV? No, that's not true: This video does not show the incident Martinez incident. It shows a different collision which happened later the same day a few blocks away. The miscaptioned video appeared in…

Did Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey or various other people issue an ultimatum to the NFL about ending sponsorship of the Super Bowl if singer Bad Bunny was allowed to perform at the halftime show? No, that's not true: A Coca-Cola spokesperson denied it and a viral quote that said "I WILL END MY SPONSORSHIP OF THE SUPER BOWL IF THEY…

Is there any truth to the viral story about the disappearance of twins Lily and Rose Parker in 1985 in Disneyland and their skeletons being found in 2013? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook page that says it publishes "horror and true stories" but according to a detection tool the image used with the post was…

Did the White House announce that the U.S. Treasury would produce official one dollar coins bearing President Donald Trump's face? No, that's not true: There is no record or reporting of any such announcement by the White House on its website or by President Trump on his Truth Social account. The U.S. Treasurer replied to a post on X that…

Does a video that looks like Ring doorbell footage authentically show a dog bringing a bear home onto the porch of a home? Unfortunately, no: Much to the disappointment and surprise of some viewers of the cute video, the footage is clearly AI generated. The VEO watermark logo on the lower right corner indicated it was made with Google's artificial…

Does CCTV footage authentically capture a bear's intrusion into a woman's bedroom? No, that's not true: The clip contained several visual artifacts consistent with generative AI production. Among those is a piece of furniture partially absorbed by a wall. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on October 2, 2025, on X, under the caption that read: This…

Did People magazine publish a satirical image of Donald Trump dressed like Marie Antoinette to illustrate an article about the White House Ballroom construction project? No, that's not true: People magazine illustrated the article with a standard portrait photo of Trump wearing a blue suit with red tie. A fake screenshot used the real article's headline and People logo --…

Did Buffalo Bills Coach Sean McDermott tell the press that he will pull his team from the 2026 Super Bowl because of the National Football League's choice to make Bad Bunny the 2026 halftime performer? No, that's not true: The Facebook page that said McDermott made such remarks wrote it happened before journalists but there were no actual news report…

Does a video depict a true story of an IDF soldier who converted to Islam and became an activist for Palestine? No, that's not true: The video uses clips showing several different women to illustrate a made-up story. The woman dancing in the first scene wearing an Israeli Army uniform is eyebrow artist Karin Edri. The woman pictured leading the…

Do viral clips with a pop-up warning advising people "under 18 years old" against watching videos of the "overcrowded Oktoberfest" show dramatic events in Munich, Germany? No, that's not true: It's engagement bait added to routine video of the annual beer and folk culture festival. Such pop-up banners attempt to make social media users hit "like" or "follow" buttons as…