Did Keanu Reeves refuse to present Whoopi Goldberg's Lifetime Achievement Award? Viral claim debunked 

On November 21, an X user took to the social networking site to claim that Keanu Reeves refused to present Whoopi Goldberg with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Subsequently, this claim has spread across various social media platforms, making it appear as if it is true. However, it is worth noting that the assumptions are false.

X user @SaveAmericaNew took to the social networking site to share images of the two celebrities, along with the caption:

“BREAKING: Keanu Reeves Refuses to Present Whoopi Goldberg’s Lifetime Achievement Award: 'She’s Not a Good Person.' Do you support this? YES OR NO.”

The tweet was quick to go viral and amass over two million views.

As the claims continue to circulate online, it is important to note that they are not true. The news appears to have originated from a satirical article on the Dunning-Kruger Times website, which describes itself as a "subsidiary of the 'America’s Last Line Of Defense' network of parody, satire and tomfoolery.”

Several other social media users also shared the same fake news, including Facebook user Interesting Things, X user @Punchy_Playz, and others.

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Keanu Reeves did not refuse to present Whoopi Goldberg with an award

The news stems from an Dunning-Kruger Times/America’s Last Line of Defense article that dates back to February, 2024. In the story, the website alleged that Keanu Reeves said, “I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who made that mistake.”

The article also alleged that other celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Wynona Ryder, and Gloria Estefan also declined to present Whoopi Goldberg with the award, after she was reportedly voted as the “most hated person” in Hollywood. The website added:

“Reeves said there’s no way he’ll change his mind, no matter how dumb the story gets. God Bless America.”

With the news originating from the aforementioned website, it is important to review that the publication shares satirical content. The 'About Us' section of their website reads:

“Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the 'America’s Last Line of Defense' network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News.”

The website also shared that everything they publish is “fiction,” as they added:

“If you believe that this is real, you should have your head examined.”

Hence, it is safe to say that the assumptions going viral are not true.

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Whoopi Goldberg’s recent Staten Island bakery controversy explained

In other news, Goldberg, The View co-host, has been making headlines for criticizing a 145-year-old Staten Island bakery, Holtermann Bakery, for refusing to bake 50 Charlotte Russe cakes for her due to her political leanings. On November 13, the 69-year-old said on her show:

“Now, I should tell you, charlotte russe has no political leanings, and the place that made these refused to make them for me.”

Further, while elaborating, Goldberg claimed that the bakery told her that “their ovens had gone down, all kinds of stuff.”

The owner, Kill Holtermann, then responded, as reported by Entertainment Weekly on November 16, denying the accusations and stating that the bakery did not “want to make a commitment that I can’t carry through.”

The bakery went on to amass an overwhelming amount of support, with Vito Fossella, the Staten Island Borough President, also standing up for them and demanding an apology from Whoopi Goldberg during a news conference, two days after the actor's statement.

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