In early 2024, posts appeared on various social media platforms, from Facebook to X (formerly Twitter), from YouTube to TikTok, all claiming that actor Keanu Reeves publicly declined to present a “Lifetime Achievement Award” to actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg. According to the posts, he supposedly said in his refusal: “She’s not a good person.”

The posts did not say who, or what organization, was supposedly sponsoring the in-question “Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Snopes traced the claim to an article published in mid-January 2024 by The Dunning-Kruger Times, a publication within a collection of websites and social media pages operated by America’s Last Line of Defense (ALLOD). The story in question began as follows:

Keanu Reeves Refuses to Present Whoopi Goldberg’s Lifetime Achievement Award: “She’s Not a Good Person”

Keanu Reeves is one of the nicest, most genuine people in Hollywood. Whoopi Goldberg, on the other hand, was recently voted “most hated person” in Tinsel Town, a distinction nobody seems to be able to refute.

Reeves was chosen to present this year’s Lifetime Achievement award by the TV Production Committee, a role he was honored to take on…until he heard that he’d have to share the stage and present the award to Whoopi Goldberg.

The story, however, was fictional. The Dunning-Kruger Times is dedicated to publishing “parody, satire, and tomfoolery,” just like other sites and social media in the ALLOD network. As such, no information originating from these sources should be assumed to be truthful.

The Dunning-Kruger Times’ “About Us” page explains more:

Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.

Snopes previously covered a similar story about a supposed squabble between Reeves and Goldberg. That fictional claim, which also originated from a site within the ALLOD network, asserted the Academy Awards supposedly replaced Goldberg with Reeves as the ceremony’s host.

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.