Repeating a rumor makes you part of the delivery service. “I just heard it” isn’t an alibi.

A rumour needs carriers more than it needs an author, and everybody who passes it along keeps it moving. Saying you did not start it is true and beside the point, since the damage comes from distance travelled rather than origin. The person it is about cannot tell the first teller from the tenth. Each retelling also makes it sound better confirmed than it is.

When something juicy arrives, the only decision is whether it stops with you. You do not have to defend anybody or make a speech, just do not pass it on. Ask whether you would repeat it with them standing there.