This issue is more than just an academic curiosity..
The astronomical objects usually called black holes can tell us a lot about the universe, including what is the correct theory of quantum gravity, or what sort of theory supersedes it - from which quantum mechanics is emergent. The problem of black hole event horizon formation is a nested conundrum, where there are various processes both Quantum and Classical that can theoretically halt the formation of a horizon, all at work, and it is more a question of the specific mechanism that gets the job done.
We discussed on another FQXi Forum page Steven Kenneth Kauffmann's paper A Self-Gravitational Upper Bound on Localized Energy.., which suggests there is a point at which energy ceases to be compressible - forming a kind of condensate - or that it resists further saturation within a space by reducing self-gravitation. This is related to the effect described by Eddington, called the Eddington luminosity or Eddington limit - where a star or AGN can be so bright it opposes the force of its own gravity and pushes away what would aggregate. And this effect also relates to the force limits described by Christoph Schiller.
A number of years ago; George Chapline wrote about something called Dark Energy Stars (attached), that also provided a clear mechanism by which event horizon is likely halted - so that an event horizon never forms. But long before then; Abhas Mitra created exact solutions that make much the same predictions as Mersini-Houghton, but do not depend on quantum effects. So if it is a question of the chicken or the egg; I think the egg was first, from which emerged the first anatomically complete chicken.
All the Best,
JonathanAttachment #1: 317506.pdf