No, keanu reeves did not write 'humans will break free of the matrix'

Claim: Keanu Reeves wrote or uttered a long message asserting that "Humans are about to release themselves from the matrix." In February 2022, an old quotation falsely attributed

to the Hollywood star Keanu Reeves regained prominence on social media. It contained the type of generic new-age rhetoric about mental slavery, consumerism, and spirituality that has become

especially popular among opponents of COVID-19-era restrictions and mandates. It typically began "Humans are about to [release themselves/break free] from the matrix" and "A

war is underway that will shape the future of human existence...:" The screed did not originate in anything Reeves actually wrote or uttered, and we are issuing a rating of

"False." In reality, this came from a four-year-old article published by a notorious purveyor of fabricated nonsense.  The original source was a Feb. 2, 2018 article posted by

YourNewsWire.com — a junk news website with a long track record of producing fabricated and sensationalized conspiracy theories and other nonsense:   Around 2018, the creators rebranded the

site as Newspunch.com, and continue to produce inflammatory disinformation. SOURCES "Did a Retired MI5 Agent Confess to Killing Princess Diana?" _Snopes.com_,

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/retired-mi5-agent-confesses-on-deathbed-i-killed-princess-diana/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022. "Did Keanu Reeves Say Hollywood Elites Use the 'Blood of

Babies' to Get High?" _Snopes.com_, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/keanu-reeves-blood-drinking/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022. "Did Minneapolis Launch a 'Sharia' Hotline

to Report Anyone Who Criticizes Islam?" _Snopes.com_, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/minneapolis-sharia-hotline-islam/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022. "FACT CHECK: CIA Agent Confesses on

Deathbed: 'We Blew Up WTC7 on 9/11.'" _Snopes.com_, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cia-agent-confesses-wtc7/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022. "FACT CHECK: Did Melania Trump Ban

White House Staff from Taking Flu Shots?" _Snopes.com_, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/melania-trump-ban-flu-shot/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022. "FACT CHECK: Katy Perry Reveals

Penchant for Cannibalism?" _Snopes.com_, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/katy-perry-cannibalism/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022. _Homepage - YourNewswire_. 21 Jan. 2022,

https://yournewswire.com/. "Were 10,800 U.S. Children Raped by Illegal Immigrants in 2018?" _Snopes.com_, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/children-raped-illegal-immigrants/.

Accessed 9 Feb. 2022.