Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has finally set the record straight about the viral moment when he appeared to know about Osama bin Laden’s death before the news was officially announced.
The actor has now revealed how he learned of the Al-Qaeda leader’s killing ahead of the public—and why his cryptic tweet ended up going out earlier than it should have.
Back in 2011, long before he became one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars, Johnson posted a mysterious message on Twitter that immediately drew global attention. No one knew what he was hinting at, but the tweet turned out to be tied to one of the biggest news events of the decade.
On May 1, 2011, he wrote: “Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
Since President Barack Obama had not yet addressed the nation or hinted at a major announcement, many were baffled by how Johnson seemed to know something monumental was unfolding. Speculation surged online, and his post quickly became one of the most-discussed moments of the night.
Nearly 15 years later, Johnson has finally addressed the mystery. During an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, the host asked him directly how he learned about bin Laden’s death before the rest of the world.
The host asked: “Before anyone else in the world had reported the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed, how did you know that had happened?”
Johnson said the early tweet was not intentional—he simply misunderstood the timing. He explained that he heard the news through a trusted connection who informed him before the President’s official announcement.
The former WWE star 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’.”
He added that he was told the President would speak in about 20 minutes, so he assumed it was an appropriate time to post. But as he tweeted, he didn’t realize Obama had not yet gone live.
He recalled: “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.”
However, the official speech was delayed, leading to confusion. Moments after posting, Johnson received another call warning him the announcement hadn’t begun.
He remembered the moment clearly: “I get a second call, and the call is, ‘Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet’. And I went, ’Oh s*’.”**
Only minutes later—around 9:45 p.m. Eastern Time—the White House confirmed that the President would speak shortly, fueling the frenzy around Johnson’s already-viral tweet.
This wasn’t the first time he addressed the incident. In a 2012 interview with Moviefone, he joked: “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 added: “I got friends in high places and low places. It was a very interesting day…the individuals who were there were proud to let me know.”
Johnson later explained that his intention was simply to express patriotism without revealing too much: “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.”
With his recent explanation, the long-standing mystery around The Rock’s early tweet is finally resolved—a mix of insider connections, a timing mishap, and an accidentally premature post from one of Hollywood’s most recognizable figures.
