What was claimed
Keanu Reeves is endorsing various causes with T-shirts on social media.
Our verdict
False. The photos have been manipulated.
AAP FACTCHECK – Multiple social media posts of Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves endorsing causes from Trumpism to gun rights and veterans issues is not a glitch in the Matrix – they are examples of a manipulated photo of the star.
An investigation by AAP FactCheck has discovered a plethora of different versions of a Keanu Reeves meme in which he holds up a T-shirt endorsing a cause, and they are all fake.
Examples include Facebook posts featuring Reeves supposedly holding up a T-shirt promoting veterans’ issues, gun rights, nationalist causes, anti-vaccine issues, and both US 2024 presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
The Trump post went viral in the middle of the year and was fact-checked by multiple organisations, such as Yahoo and Snopes, as well as social media users on X.
The Yahoo article says the Trump Keanu post went viral in mid-September 2024, but it actually appeared on Facebook as early as July 22, 2024.
Each of the posts includes a lengthy tribute to Reeves’ character, which variously begin with “Happy birthday Keanu Reeves” or “Well worth reading” or jump straight into the tribute, which begins with a story about Reeves waiting in the rain for 20 minutes to get into his own party.
The story has been around since 2014.
The original photo that’s been adapted for the posts doesn’t include a T-shirt at all. It’s a simple front-facing picture of Reeves, owned and distributed by Getty Images.
According to the photo credit, it was taken on November 8, 2017, at the EICMA’s Milan motorcycle fair. Reeves is wearing the same red and black Arch Motorcycle cap, black suit jacket and black Arch Motorcycle T-shirt.
A YouTube clip from the same event shows an interview with Reeves wearing the same outfit.
A TinEye reverse image search of the Reeves meme reveals the earliest version of it appears to date back to October 2018.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
