Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said he was informed of Osama bin Laden’s death before then-President Barack Obama announced it publicly in May 2011.
Recounting the incident during a recent appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast, Johnson, 53, said he received word of the killing through personal connections about 20 minutes before Obama’s televised address.
The topic came about after host Scott Feinberg read aloud a tweet the actor posted on May 1, 2011, hours before the official announcement.
“Oh my God, this is not good,” Johnson said as Feinberg displayed the message.
In the post, Johnson wrote, “Just got word that will shock the world — Land of the free … home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
Feinberg asked how Johnson knew about the news ahead of the public.
“I’ve got a friend of a friend who gave me a call,” Johnson replied.
“The call was like, ‘Hey, this thing happened.’ And I said, ‘OK, wonderful news.'”
He said the person told him the president would address the nation in about 20 minutes.
“So 20 minutes go by, and at about the 25th minute, I tweet this,” Johnson said. “Then I get a second call, and the call is, ‘Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet.'”
“And I went, ‘Oh s***,'” Johnson recalled.
Obama officially confirmed bin Laden’s death later that night, saying U.S. forces had conducted a raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
“Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan,” Obama said in his televised remarks. “A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.”
“No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties,” he added.
After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”
Johnson has previously commented on the tweet, telling Moviefone in a 2012 interview that he preferred to keep the source of the information private.
“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 said. The interview no longer appears online but was cited by Politico.
“I got friends in high places and low places. It was a very interesting day,” he continued. “The individuals who were there were proud to let me know.”
Johnson said at the time that he believed it was appropriate to share his pride as an American without revealing specific details.
“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,” he said.
During the same 2012 interview, Johnson shared interest in pursuing politics, saying, “One day, and that day will come, I can impact the world through politics. The great news is that I am American, therefore I can become president.”
However, when Feinberg asked about potential political plans during the podcast, Johnson declined to elaborate.
“In 2022, both major political parties apparently reached out to gauge your interest in running for president,” Feinberg said. “Is there any chance that, in real life, you might entertain the possibility of running for president in the future?”
Johnson replied, “Brother, you’ve asked a lot of great questions. Let’s ask another one.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
