A quote wrongly attributed to the American actor Keanu Reeves has been republished for several years.
Based on the inquiry that we received via Raskrinkavanje’s website, we analyzed the article about the alleged statement of the American actor Keanu Reeves, which was published for the fourth time in just over two years, on a website Novi Horizonti, on November 28, 2018.
ACTOR KEANU REEVES “EXPLAINS” WHAT MUSLIMS HAVE KNOWN FOR MORE THAN 1,400 YEARSTHE ACTOR KEANU REEVES HAS ALREADY PUBLISHED STRONG MESSAGES THAT HIT THE CORE. HIS THOUGHTS ENCOURAGED MANY TO THINK ABOUT IT.
Without citing the source, the article quoted Reeves’ alleged statement and presented it as a review of the “paradoxes of today’s society”.
I can’t be a part of the world where men dress their wives as prostitutes, showing everything that should be precious. Where there is no honor and dignity and where you can only rely on “I promise”. Where women don’t want children and men don’t want a family. Where fools believe they are successful while hiding behind the wheels of their father’s cars and fathers who have any power try to convince you that you are nobody and nothing
Where people falsely declare that they believe in God with a glass of alcohol in their hand and without any understanding of their religion. Where jealousy is considered shameful, and modesty is a flaw. Where people forget about love but look for the ideal partner.
Where people fix every noise on cars, saving neither time nor money, and they look so poor that only expensive cars can cover them.
Where boys spend their parents’ money in nightclubs, imitating primitive sounds, and girls fall in love with them because of it.
Where men and women have not been different for years, and where all this is called freedom of choice, but for those who choose a different path, they are branded as retarded bullies.
I chose my path, but it is a pity that I do not find understanding in the people among whom I most wanted to find it.
The earliest publication of this article is recorded on the website Kurir, and it dates from March 7, 2016. A day later, the article spread throughout the region and was published on Novi Horizonti, Svjetlo Dunjaluka, Hayat TV and many others.
On the same day that this story appeared in our language, the American fact-finding portal The Snopes published an analysis and determined that it was fake news.
The first attribution of this statement to Keanu Reeves took place in a video format in Russian in 2015. The statement given by Reeves at the exhibition of Paul Gauguin’s works is synchronized with the Russian version of the quoted text. The original English version of this video did not say anything similar.
In the analysis, The Snopes claimed that this quote had appeared on the Internet before, but that it was not attributed to the American actor at the time. However, the link to that earlier publication is no longer active.
The quote is first attributed to Reeves on the Facebook page “Keanu Reeves – the actor”, which no longer exists. The earliest example and still available for download can be found on the Facebook page The scientific miracles of Islam, dating from March 1, 2016. On March 6, 2016, it was taken over by the American “new age” website Higher Perspective, citing the now non-existent Facebook page as a source.
Another American fact-checking website, Politifact, dealt with this topic on July 13, 2017. They contacted the actor’s publicist Cheryl Maisel, who told them that Keanu was not present on social networks, and that it was a fake Facebook page with which the actor had nothing to do and which they demanded to be removed from Facebook, and which eventually happened.
According to The Snopes, the quote has become popular on sites and groups that talk about Islamic topics. This claim was confirmed because the article about Reeves’ statement was shared seven times on Novi Horizonti and Svjetlo Dunjaluka.
ACTOR KEANU REEVES “EXPLAINED” WHAT MUSLIMS HAVE KNOWN FOR MORE THAN 1,400 YEARS (Novi Horizonti: March 8, 2016, April 22, 2018, November 28, 2018)
KEANU REEVES DELIGHTED THE PUBLIC WITH A MESSAGE (Novi Horizonti: June 27, 2018)
ACTOR KEANU REEVES “EXPLAINS” WHAT MUSLIMS KNOW FOR MORE THAN 1,400 YEARS (Svjetlo Dunjaluka: August 3, 2016)
ACTOR KEANU REEVES STARTED THINKING AS A MUSLIM, READ WHAT HE SAID (Svjetlo Dunjaluka: October 10, 2016)
KEANU REEVES DELIGHTED THE PUBLIC WITH A MESSAGE (Svjetlo Dunjaluka: September 4, 2017)
Other websites either quoted parts of the comment or presented it as a “strong message”:
HE EXPLAINED THE ESSENCE: KEANU REEVES SHAKED THE WORLD WITH A POWERFUL MESSAGE (Hayat: August 3, 2016)
Keanu Reeves: Where men and women have not been different for years, and it is all called freedom of choice (Visoko.co.ba: August 3, 2016.)
KEANU REEVES ANNOUNCES A STRONG MESSAGE: Where women don’t want children and men don’t want a family? (Kurir: March 7, 2016)
Since this is fake news, found to be something Keanu Reeves never said or wrote, the article published on Kurir will be rated as fake news, and all subsequent transmissions will also be rated as fake news.
Reactions: November 30, 2018
After we sent an e-mail to the media that published this article, thus clarifying that the statement was wrongly attributed to the actor, they contacted us from websites Tuzlanski and Visoko.co.ba. They deleted articles, so both websites will receive a grade refuted.
Note: September 30, 2020
Although almost two years have passed since the publication of this analysis, the fake news with the statement that was incorrectly attributed to the actor Keanu Reaves is still shared by websites in our speaking area.
Accordingly, the analysis was supplemented by new transmissions of this fake news from 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Note: December 24, 2020
The editorial offices of Kurir and Espreso corrected their incorrect allegations, which is why the articles were rated as corrected.
(Author: Biljana Livančić-Milić, Raskrinkavanje.ba)
