Back in 2011, long before he became one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars, Johnson took to Twitter and posted a cryptic message that immediately caught global attention. At the time, no one knew what he was referring to, but the tweet turned out to be about the death of the Al-Qaeda leader.
On May 1, 2011, Johnson wrote: “Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
Now, nearly 15 years later, Johnson has finally addressed the situation and explained what really happened behind the scenes.
During an interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, the host asked him directly about that night and how he got the news so early.
According to Johnson, the early post wasn’t intentional—he just didn’t realize the timing. He explained that he had received information from a trusted connection who gave him the news before it was public knowledge.
The former 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’.”
But what Johnson didn’t realize at the time was that President Obama had not yet stepped in front of the cameras to share the news with the public. The delay caused some confusion, and shortly after posting, Johnson got another call warning him that the official speech hadn’t started yet.
He recalled the moment, saying: “I get a second call, and the call is, ‘Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet’. And I went, ‘Oh s***’.”
This wasn’t the first time Johnson had spoken about the incident. In a 2012 interview with Moviefone, he jokingly 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.”
He added more context at the time, saying: “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.”
And with that, the long-running mystery surrounding The Rock’s viral tweet has finally been put to rest. What once seemed like an impossible leak turned out to be a mix of timing, connections, and a bit of accidental early tweeting from one of Hollywood’s most recognizable figures.
