Jason was referring to the joint ProPublica/Vanity Fair investigation into the COVID‑19 lab‑leak theory, titled “COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a ‘Complex and Grave Situation’ Inside a Wuhan Lab”, published October 28, 2022.(propublica.org) He predicted that ProPublica (and possibly Vanity Fair) would win a Pulitzer Prize for this reporting.

Pulitzer records from 2023–2025 show no prize or finalist citation for this investigation, nor any Pulitzer mentioning ProPublica or Vanity Fair for work on COVID‑19 origins or the lab‑leak theory. ProPublica’s post‑2022 Pulitzers are for other topics: public service in 2024 for its Supreme Court ethics investigation and in 2025 for the “Life of the Mother” series on abortion‑related maternal deaths, and explanatory reporting in 2025 for a series on mental‑health insurance denials.(en.wikipedia.org) Earlier pandemic‑related work by ProPublica was only a finalist for public service, and that citation covers accountability reporting on the U.S. COVID response, not the Wuhan lab‑leak story.(propublica.org) Vanity Fair does not appear in any Pulitzer winner or finalist lists for this period.(en.wikipedia.org)

Instead of being prize‑winning, the joint lab‑leak piece has been widely criticized for translation errors and evidentiary weaknesses, including a Los Angeles Times column calling the ProPublica/Vanity Fair exposé a “train wreck,” and broader critiques summarized in coverage of the COVID‑19 lab‑leak theory.(latimes.com) Given that multiple Pulitzer cycles (2023, 2024, 2025) have passed with no recognition of this investigation, Jason’s prediction that this specific lab‑leak reporting would win a Pulitzer has not come true.