Fact Check: No, a judge did not slap White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
Videos accurately reported that a judge slapped White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in court.
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In April and May 2025, claims that a judge slapped White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spread online.
For example, a YouTube video (archived) that had 75,000 views as of this writing made the claim that the judge supposedly slapped Leavitt and then his "corrupt empire began to crumble":
This was not the only video making those claims. At least three more YouTube videos of varying lengths repeated the same allegations, as did a few TikTok videos.
This claim was false.
Three of the YouTube videos said the judge's was Edward Hargrove of Washington, D.C., while the fourth claimed he name was Richard Franklin of Boston. The language was similar in each of the supposed reports, though the voice and image changed. All voices had a mechanical quality, suggesting they were generated by artificial intelligence. Further, Snopes ran screen captures of the videos into AI detectors SightEngine and WasItAI and confirmed they were AI-made.
Thorough Google and Google News searches revealed no report of such an incident. Searches using keywords "Edward Hargrove" and "Richard Franklin" also revealed no such story.
Further, one of the YouTube videos included a disclaimer, which appeared for a fraction of a second at the beginning, that read as follows (emphasis ours):
(YouTube user Mythos Unveiled)
DISCLAIMER
ALL INFORMATION IN THIS VIDEO IS COMPILED FROM REPUTABLE AND RELIABLE NEWS SOURCES. HOWEVER, THE CONTENT IS INTENDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES TO HELP VIEWERS GAIN A BROADER UNDERSTANDING AND PERSPECTIVE ON FAMOUS FIGURES. THIS CONTENT IS NOT INTENDED TO OFFEND OR HARM ANYONE.
WE DO NOT CLAIM THAT ALL THE INFORMATION IN THE VIDEO IS ENTIRELY ACCURATE OR COMPLETE. HOWEVER, WE DO NOT DISTORT OR MISREPRESENT THE ORIGINS OF THE INFORMATION WE PRESENT.
THEREFORE, VIEWERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONSULT MULTIPLE SOURCES FOR THE MOST WELL-ROUNDED PERSPECTIVE.
THANK YOU
By mixing true and misleading information as well as using emotionally charged language, such videos about baseless celebrity rumors often generate hundreds or thousands of comments from YouTube users. Some of those messages indicate that people interpret the videos to be real news.
Snopes has verified several such videos, including one that claimed Oprah Winfrey had fled the country following Sean Combs' arrest and another that claimed Jennifer Lopez had left the U.S. for similar reasons.
Dobrin, Nikki. "Rumors Jennifer Lopez Fled the US after 'Massive Threat' from Diddy Are False." Snopes, Snopes.com, 13 Nov. 2024, www.snopes.com/fact-check/jennifer-lopez-fled-us-diddy-threat/. Accessed 9 May 2025.
Rascouët-Paz, Anna. "FBI Revealed Oprah Fled US after 'Diddy Footage' Leak?" Snopes, Snopes.com, 15 Nov. 2024, www.snopes.com/fact-check/oprah-diddy-youtube-tiktok/. Accessed 9 May 2025.
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