- the homophobic neighbor in "American Beauty" turned out to be a latent homosexual.
- adulterous husbands often accuse their wives of cheating on them.
- Richard Nixon's paranoia about plots and conspiracies against his administration led to his authorizing plots and conspiracies against his perceived enemies, and this led to his own resignation in disgrace.
- Rush Limbaugh lectured on the evils of drug use; in reality, he was addicted to drugs.
- fundamentalist ministers and moralists such as Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Jesse Jackson, and Bill Cosby preached on morality; they were all revealed to have mistresses.
- Hilary Clinton alleged a vast right-wing conspiracy against her husband, to undo the results of the 1996 election. In reality, the independent prosecutor uncovered a vast White House conspiracy to keep Bill Clinton's adultery and perjury a secret.
- online Xena fans at the official Studios USA site obsessed over the notion of multiple handles, claiming that any poster who actually enjoyed the show and didn't believe Xena and Gabrielle were lovers was actually a duplicate handle and/or a studio "plant." In reality, in the final week before the site was shut down, dozens revealed their many duplicate handles, used both to attack each other anonymously, and to try to make the studio think there were more outraged fans than there really were.
- a Xena message board which shall remain nameless (but I think we all know which one) posted extensive rules of conduct and behavior, which appeared to many to be very selectively enforced. In reality, it was revealed that the administrators maintained a secret forum for strategizing on who used what handle to attack what poster, and, much like a ringer in pro hockey, what attack mode might be used to "get" anyone who suggested that the imaginary characters of Xena and Gabrielle weren't lovers.
- Sci-Fi Channel message board frequenters expressed outrage over B-grade monster movies and pro wrestling being aired on "their" channel, claiming no one but idiots and immature children watch these. Then they proceeded to act like idiots and immature children, arguing with fans and calling them names.