Rumors move fast because they travel light. No proof, no context, no return address.

A story with nothing attached to it can move at any speed. Evidence is heavy, context is heavy, and a name behind the claim is heaviest of all, so the version that spreads is the one that dropped them, which is also the one most likely to be wrong. Speed and truth pull in opposite directions here.

When something reaches you about a person, ask who saw it and what exactly they saw. If the answer thins out under one question, let it stop with you. Being the place a rumor ends costs nothing and is quietly one of the more decent things you can do.