False story claims judge punished Pam Bondi for wearing cross necklace

In March 2025, a series of viral videos claimed a judge attempted to fine U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for wearing a religious symbol — a cross necklace — in a courtroom, but she stopped him by citing laws that protect her. The most popular clip showed Bondi facing the justice, supposedly named "Judge Prescott," with a caption that claimed:

Pam Bondi walked into court expecting a routine hearing — until Judge Prescott fined her for wearing a cross. What happened next turned a simple case into a legal showdown that had the entire courtroom watching. Pam refused to back down, challenging the judge's ruling in real time and exposing the flaw in his argument.

But the fight didn't end there. The next day, Prescott struck back, filing a formal complaint against her, hoping to silence her through the system. What he didn't expect? Pam was ready for him. As the story gained traction, legal experts, journalists, and the public weighed in, putting the judge under intense scrutiny.

Would he get away with his actions, or was this the moment his power began to crumble? Watch the full story to find out how Pam turned the tables in a battle that went far beyond one courtroom.

At least one video amended the story slightly by changing the name of the purported judge and city where the incident supposedly took place, and displayed different visuals. However, most videos repeated the story transcribed above with the same visuals, as seen here: 

While the origin of the story was unknown, it was fictional. There were no news stories about a judge supposedly trying to punish Bondi for wearing the Christian cross around her neck in a courtroom, much less one with the name "Prescott." If that had really happened, the story would have received national news coverage due to Bondi's high-ranking government status.

According to all videos, the situation took place in Florida. There is a real "Judge Orlando Prescott" who presides over Miami-Dade County, according to Ballotpedia, but there was no evidence of him being involved in the rumor about Bondi.

The fictional story played on the fact that Bondi often wears the cross in public. That said, the law does not prevent people from wearing religious attire in courtrooms. Courthouse dress codes can vary by location and judges often write the rules, per criminal justice news website The Marshall Project. In one district in Tampa, Florida, for example, the rules are fairly broad, requiring simply "proper attire" and banning tank tops, shorts and flip-flops.

Furthermore, the videos displayed several signs of having been generated by artificial intelligence software. One clip showed an AI-generated image of Bondi alongside the purported judge and depicted her mouth and body moving in a stilted manner. However, Bondi's voice was not audible, and a narrator spoke throughout the video. People in the background of that video also had blurred faces and oddly aligned eyes — examples of poorly generated AI-imagery.

YouTube accounts with disclaimers that say their content is not authentic promoted the rumor. For example, YouTube channels Elite Stories and Yasir Experience — both of which have a history of posting outlandish stories with AI-generated images and audio — shared clips of the Bondi story with this disclaimer in the videos' captions:

The stories presented on this channel are entirely fictional and crafted solely for entertainment. Any resemblance to real events, individuals, or situations is purely coincidental and unintentional. These narratives are not intended to depict, reference, or represent any actual occurrences, persons, or entities.

Snopes has previously debunked similar YouTube videos with fake stories about prominent people as well as clips that used AI technology for audio or visuals and published a series of articles to help people identify that type of media.