John Cena didn’t find rumors about his demise funny for a very good reason.
Cena was the subject of a rumor that he died from COVID-19 in August 2021. That rumor was debunked immediately, but it was the subject of an awkward exchange when Cena appeared on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take in January 2022.
A clip from the interview went viral over the weekend, amassing more than 3.5 million views on Twitter/X. During the exchange, Cena was asked if he heard the rumor that he died of COVID and if there was a “small part of him that wanted to go along with it.”
Cena questioned what the benefit of that would be, asking, “Where is the good in that?” PMT hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter said it would have gotten fans to celebrate Cena publicly and share their memories of him, but he didn’t find it funny.
John Cena handled the uncomfortable question with grace and maturity
“I know you guys are trying to have some fun. I just lost a close friend two days ago,” Cena said.
“Oh shit…” the hosts said, feeling bad about the segment.
“No, no, that’s cool. So when I say something like that and take the smile off of your face, loss is a really tough thing. I don’t think, especially at this point or any point, the fragile nature of human life is a headline to grab. So, I know what you’re trying to do, I can’t fault you for trying,” Cena said. “But in taking a moment to reflect on the passing of a close friend of mine, man I just see things from a completely different perspective. I don’t think that’s the right avenue for me to go down. I’m just saying in this case, right now, here. That’s just not a path I want to go down. I hear you, it’s just not a path I want to go down.”
Cena’s 2022 appearance on PMT was to promote the debut of Peacemaker on HBO Max. Creator James Gunn recently revealed that Cena was not his first choice for the role. Instead, Gunn said he wrote it for Dave Bautista. Cena recently reacted to that news in a new interview with GQ, sharing an insightful answer about why he kept an optimistic view about getting the role.
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