Did Keanu Reeves insult Whoopi Goldberg and refuse to give her an award?

A post claiming Keanu Reeves refused to present Whoopi Goldberg with a Lifetime Achievement award because she’s “not a good person” is going viral, but is it real?

Users across social media have been bombarded by screenshots of a news headline reporting that John Wick star Keanu Reeves called out Whoopi Goldberg.

The report, which originated on a website called Dunning-Kruger Times, says that Keanu Reeves was chosen to present an award to Goldberg by the TV Production Committee, but declined.

Reeves is reported as saying, “She’s not a nice person,” referring to Whoopi. “I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who made that mistake.”

The infamous post goes on to claim that Justin Timberlake, Wynona Ryder, and Gloria Estefan also refused. So, is this story real, or is it all just made-up nonsense?

Keanu Reeves vs Whoopi Goldberg drama explained after viral post

Unsurprisingly, the answer is that the article is just as fake as The Matrix. Keanu Reeves never refused to give Whoopi Goldberg an award, nor did he say she wasn’t a nice person.

The Dunning-Kruger Times’ own website even describes itself as satire with the purpose of its nonsensical stories being for comedic purposes.

However, that didn’t stop the fake news headline from being reposted to other sites and shared to social media. One such screengrab of the headline has gone ultra viral on Facebook.

On X, a link to the post was hit with a Community Note, correctly labeling the article as fake news, but that didn’t stop the story from still being viewed over 2 million times.

It’s easier than ever for someone to make something up on the internet in 2024, especially with the rise of deepfake technology, but some things are just too ridiculous to be believed.