The Rock Addresses Knowing About Osama Bin Laden’s Death Before the World & Tweeting It Too Early

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson just admitted he was tipped off about Osama bin Laden’s death before President Obama addressed the nation — and it all came out thanks to a tweet he fired off 25 minutes too soon.

While appearing on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Johnson was confronted with his old May 1, 2011 post — one that shocked fans back then for seeming to jump the gun on one of the biggest news stories of the decade. His tweet at the time read:

“Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”

Host Scott Feinberg asked the obvious: how did Johnson know before anyone else? The former WWE Champion didn’t hesitate to explain.

“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 recalled.

He went on to explain that the tip came with a timeline:

“I was told on the call that the president at that time [Barack Obama] 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. Then I get a second call, and the call is, ‘Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet.’ And I went, ‘Oh s—.’”

President Obama officially made the announcement minutes later, confirming that bin Laden had been killed in a special operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Johnson had previously addressed the tweet in 2012 with Moviefone, saying he wouldn’t reveal his source.

“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 at the time. “I got friends in high places and low places.”

Back then, he also floated the idea of entering politics, even claiming:

“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.”

But when asked during the Awards Chatter interview if he’d ever run for office, Johnson dodged like a pro.

“Brother, you’ve asked a lot of great questions. Let’s ask another one,” he said, shutting the door on 2024 — but leaving just a sliver open for 2032. Dwayne Johnson accidentally breaking one of the biggest stories in American history? Just another day in the life of The Rock.

Are you surprised The Rock knew about bin Laden’s death before anyone else — and do you think he’ll ever really run for president? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!