1+ week, 4+ day ago (401+ words) After Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election in early November 2025, a rumor began circulating online that Macy's was canceling its annual Thanksgiving parade because the mayor-elect wanted to charge the department store $10 million to use Fifth Avenue. For example, the Facebook page America's Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) posted a meme with text reading (archived): New Yorkers are regretting their votes after Macy's announces the end of 125 years of Thanksgiving tradition. "Mayor-Elect Mamdani wants us to pay $10 million to rent 5th Avenue for three hours," said Macy's CEO Joseph A Barron, "We'd have to charge admission." The post's caption added that the CEO allegedly said he was "completely blindsided" by the proposal, which ALLOD described as a "plan to turn the annual Thanksgiving Parade into a fundraiser for [Mamdani's] socialist projects." The pinned comment under the post said…...

2+ week, 13+ hour ago (205+ words) From fake posts to evolving policies and prevalent scams, Snopes has done numerous dives into the social media giant. 20 Facebook, Meta rumors we've investigated From fake posts to evolving policies and prevalent scams, Snopes has done numerous dives into the social media giant. Published Nov. 16, 2025 Founded in 2004, Facebook is one of the longest-operating social media platforms on the internet, outlasting several of its contemporary competitors. However, with success comes scrutiny, and Facebook, its parent company Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have experienced numerous challenges throughout the app's existence. Snopes has investigated several such issues related to Facebook, from hosting countless fake stories aiming to financially capitalize on tragic world events and a scam attempting to cheat unsuspecting users out of money, to odd glitches sparking concern among users. Given its popularity across the world, our readers have frequently contacted us…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago (199+ words) The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, colloquially known as "food stamps," is the country's largest anti-hunger initiative. 11 rumors about SNAP we've investigated The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, colloquially known as "food stamps," is the country's largest anti-hunger initiative. Published Nov. 5, 2025 The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has helped feed low-income Americans for decades. In an effort to fight stigma about the food assistance program, lawmakers removed references to "food stamps" in 2008. Still, misconceptions about SNAP and its recipients remain, and Snopes has dispelled various rumors related to that. For example, we debunked a claim that people can use food stamps to buy marijuana and determined a video of people supposedly rioting after the government cut off food stamps was generated by artificial intelligence. As the country's largest anti-hunger initiative, rumors about policies that may affect SNAP benefits often spread widely…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (311+ words) The Democratic U.S. Senator from New York has been the subject of many rumors over the decades he's been in elected office. 13 rumors about Chuck Schumer we've investigated The Democratic U.S. Senator from New York has been the subject of many rumors over the decades he's been in elected office. Published Nov. 22, 2025 U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has been an elected member of Congress since 1981 " giving members of the public plenty of time to concoct rumors about the New York Democrat. Snopes has examined numerous rumors about alleged scandals, including whether the Financial Trade Commission caught Schumer taking $1 million in "excessive contributions" and a satirical claim about the senator accepting a Rolls-Royce car from the British government. We have also looked into claims related to his policies, such as whether he demanded $4 million for LGBTQ+ campaigns as a prerequisite for reopening the…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago (514+ words) In November 2025, a story began circulating online claiming that a small-town museum in Missouri had, for 50 years, unknowingly displayed the mummified body of a missing man, believing it to be a wax figure. Social media posts described how a new curator supposedly made the discovery while preparing the exhibit for renovation. One Facebook post (archived) with the story read: For fifty years, the museum's prized "wax figure" " a man in a brown suit and bowler hat, seated with a newspaper in his lap " had been the centerpiece of the "Everyday Life in 1920" exhibit. Children posed beside him. Tourists joked about how lifelike he looked. The staff affectionately called him Sam the Silent Man. But on that humid morning in June 2025, as Clara prepared the exhibit for renovation, she noticed something strange: the figure's hands weren't waxy " they were leathery. The…...

2+ day, 7+ hour ago (198+ words) For Black Friday, we rounded up our past stories about Walmart investigating everything from popular scams to political donations. 20 rumors about Walmart that we've investigated For Black Friday, we rounded up our past stories about Walmart investigating everything from popular scams to political donations. Published Nov. 28, 2025 As eager holiday shoppers prepare for another onslaught of Black Friday deals, few big box retailers are set to capitalize on the season of giving more than Walmart. The retail giant touted a holiday sales record of $994 billion in 2024, leading in hot gift-giving categories like toys, video games, televisions and home items, according to its own data. With over 10,000 stores globally, rumors about the Bentonville, Arkansas-based, retail chain are common, particularly around the holiday season. Over the years, Snopes has investigated a wide range of claims about Walmart, including a variety of scams, whispers…...

5+ day, 8+ hour ago (510+ words) A rumor circulated online in November 2025 that the U.S. Supreme Court announced a hearing date regarding President Donald Trump's "alleged illegal" dismantling of the White House East Wing, where demolition finished in October. According to the rumor, the high court decided to hear the case after the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced a $10 billion lawsuit against Trump, who repeatedly said he wished to build a large ballroom on White House grounds. The vast majority of posts mentioning this matter read, "BREAKING: The Supreme Court sets a hearing date for Donald Trump's alleged illegal demolition of the White House East Wing after the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a $10 billion lawsuit against him for violating federal environmental and heritage protection laws." Elliot Carter, a spokesperson for the NTHP, told Snopes via email, "Nothing about the rumor is true. We don't…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago (149+ words) On Nov. 12, 2025, multiple news outlets reported on documents released by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives that supposedly showed messages by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein about U.S. President Donald Trump. Snopes is working to analyze the documents for independent verification, as of this writing. The White House is accusing Democrats of selectively leaking the records "to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump."" White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavit wrote in an email to Snopes, "These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump's historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again," referring to the 2025 federal government shutdown. Over the years, Snopes has covered a number of rumors related to the relationship between Trump and Epstein. Here are 17 of them:...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (487+ words) In the calls, according to the rumor, Trump allegedly "begged, bribed, threatened and cried," asking the representatives to "reverse their votes on releasing the Epstein files," apparently in reference to the discharge petition that required 218 signatures from representatives to force a vote on releasing the files." The petition reached that threshold on Nov. 12, after House Speaker Mike Johnson swore in Democrat Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona. Four Republican representatives, including Mace and Boebert, signed the petition, House records show. One Facebook user who shared the claim wrote: BREAKING: White House lawyers are reportedly worried Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace recorded their phone calls with Trump where he begged, bribed, threatened, and cried for them to reverse their votes on releasing the Epstein files. In addition to Facebook, variations of the rumor spread on X, Threads and Bluesky (archived, archived, archived)....

3+ week, 56+ min ago (209+ words) Following the assassination of her husband, Erika Kirk has became the subject of numerous false and unfounded claims. 13 rumors about Erika Kirk that we've investigated Following the assassination of her husband, Erika Kirk has became the subject of numerous false and unfounded claims. Published Nov. 9, 2025 In the weeks after Charlie Kirk's death in September 2025, a wave of social media posts with varying degrees of accuracy targeted his widow, Erika Kirk. Some posts spread baseless allegations about her personal and professional life, while others sought to connect her to political figures without evidence. A portion of the rumors used her husband's death to promote unfounded conspiracy theories. For example, one story falsely alleged that U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett demanded a federal investigation into Erika Kirk for allegedly receiving a $350,000 payment before her husband's death. Another fabricated rumor claimed she recruited victims for…...