More than a decade after sending one of the most talked-about tweets in his career, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has finally explained how he knew about Osama bin Laden’s death before the news broke publicly.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, The Rock recounted the moment from May 2011, when he posted a cryptic message on Twitter just minutes before then-U.S. President Barack Obama announced that American forces had killed the al-Qaeda leader.
The actor and former WWE Champion revealed that he received the information through private channels before the news reached the media.
“I’ve got a friend of a friend who gave me a call,” Johnson said. “The call was like, ‘Hey, this thing happened.’ And I said, ‘Okay, wonderful news.’ I was told on the call that the president at that time was going to make his speech in 20 minutes or whatever. I said, ‘Okay, great.’ So 20 minutes go by, and at about the 25th minute, I tweet this.”
That tweet read:
“Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) May 2, 2011
The Rock said he didn’t realize at the time that his post had gone out before Obama’s official televised announcement, leading to confusion – and plenty of speculation – about how he knew so early.
“Then I get a second call,” he continued. “And the call is, ‘Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet.’ And I went, ‘Oh sh*t.’”
The now-legendary tweet went viral almost immediately, as thousands of users speculated on what the news might be. Minutes later, President Obama confirmed bin Laden’s death in a live address, making The Rock’s post appear almost prophetic.
While Johnson didn’t reveal who tipped him off, his account finally clears up a mystery that’s followed him for years.
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