The Mystery Behind The Rock's Shocking Tweet
For over a decade, fans have been left wondering how Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson managed to announce one of the biggest news stories of the century before anyone else. The Hollywood megastar has finally broken his silence on the infamous 2011 tweet that revealed Osama bin Laden's death before President Barack Obama's official address to the nation.
The Night That Shook Social Media
On the evening of May 1, 2011, Johnson posted a message that would send shockwaves across Twitter: 'Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!' The tweet appeared nearly 25 minutes before President Obama stepped up to the podium to confirm that US special operations forces had killed the Al-Qaeda leader in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
During a recent appearance on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, the 53-year-old actor explained the sequence of events that led to his premature announcement. 'I've got a friend of a friend who gave me a call,' Johnson revealed to host Scott Feinberg. 'The call was like, “Hey, this thing happened”. And I said, “Okay, wonderful news”.'
The former WWE Champion was told that President Obama would be making his speech in approximately 20 minutes. Believing the announcement was imminent, Johnson posted his patriotic message. However, the timing proved to be his downfall. 'I get a second call, and the call is, “Yeah, the president didn't go on yet”. And I went, “Oh s***”,' the actor confessed.
Fourteen Years of Speculation
This isn't the first time Johnson has been pressed about the early leak. Back in 2012, when questioned by Moviefone, he maintained his mysterious stance, joking: 'If I tell you that, I won't have to kill you, but I'll have to behead you – no, I got my sources.' He attributed the mistake to confusion about when the US leader was scheduled to address the nation.
The White House had announced at 9:45pm EDT that the President would be speaking later that evening, but Obama's actual confirmation that 'they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body' came after Johnson's tweet had already gone viral.
Johnson's connection to the story adds another layer to his remarkable career transition from professional wrestling to becoming one of the world's highest-grossing actors, with his films generating over $14.9 billion worldwide. The man behind blockbusters like The Scorpion King and Moana continues to surprise audiences, both on and off screen.
