Topics: Barack Obama, Dwayne Johnson, Politics, US News, Celebrity
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has finally explained how he knew Osama bin Laden had been killed before anyone else, including the president.
It all began in 2011, when the Red One actor tweeted for all to see that the Al-Qaeda leader was dead.
On May 1, Johnson wrote: “Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
However, as US President Barack Obama hadn’t mentioned anything about any new development, people were confused about how he knew something had gone on.
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Well, nearly 15 years later, he’s revealed all.
Johnson appeared on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, where he was outright asked about it.
The host said: “Before anyone else in the world had reported the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed, how did you know that had happened?"
As it turns out, the 53-year-old wasn’t supposed to have revealed it first and it was just a timing issue.
The WWE champion said: “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’.
“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, it turns out that the President hadn’t yet set up his podium to reveal the news to the world, which led to someone else giving him a call and telling him the bad news.
Johnson said: “I get a second call, and the call is, ‘Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet’. And I went, ‘Oh s***’.”
Later, at 9:45pm EDT, the White House announced that the President would be addressing the nation later in the same evening as the Rock had revealed the topic.
This isn’t the first time Johnson has spoken out about his mix up, as in 2012, he told Moviefone: “If I tell you that, I won’t have to kill you, but I’ll have to behead you – no, I got my sources.
“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.”
He added: “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.”
So, now the mystery has been solved.
