Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has finally revealed how he learned about Osama bin Laden’s death before it was announced by official sources.
The story traces back to 2011, when the Red One actor tweeted that the Al-Qaeda leader had been killed.
On May 1, Johnson tweeted: “Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
At the time, US President Barack Obama had not announced any such information, leaving many puzzled about Johnson’s prior knowledge.
Now, nearly 15 years later, he has provided clarity on the situation.
Johnson discussed the incident on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast when asked directly about his early knowledge of the event.
The host inquired: “Before anyone else in the world had reported the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed, how did you know that had happened?”
As it turns out, Johnson was not supposed to be the one to break the news, and it was all due to timing issues.
The WWE champion explained: “I’ve got a friend of a friend who gave me a call. The call was like, ‘Hey, this thing happened’. And I said, ‘Okay, wonderful news’.
“I was informed on the call that the president at that time was going to address the nation in about 20 minutes. I thought, ‘Okay, great.’ So, 20 minutes pass, and at around the 25th minute, I tweet this.”
However, the President had not yet addressed the nation, leading to another call informing Johnson about the premature tweet.
Johnson recounted: “I get a second call, and the call is, ‘Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet’. And I went, ‘Oh s***’.”
Later that evening, at 9:45 pm EDT, the White House announced that the President would be making an address, confirming the information Johnson had shared.
This incident is not the first time Johnson has commented on the mix-up. In a 2012 interview with Moviefone, he said: “If I tell you that, I won’t have to kill you, but I’ll have to behead you – no, I got my sources.
“I have friends in high places and low places. It was a very interesting day…the individuals who were there were proud to let me know.”
He added: “I knew the president was going to give his speech; I thought he was going to give it at a certain time and so I thought, I think it’s appropriate that I tweet ‘I’m damn proud to be an American’ and keep it in that space without giving away too much information.”
Now, the mystery surrounding his early tweet has been clarified.