Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has finally explained how he discovered that Osama bin Laden had been killed before the rest of the world.
In 2011, the Hollywood star shared the death of the Al-Qaeda leader on Twitter.
On the evening of May 1, Johnson famously posted: ‘Just got word that will shock the world – Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!’
However, he left many people scratching their head considering the fact US President Barack Obama was yet to announce the news.
Now, 14 years on, the actor has explained just how he found out the huge update before sharing it with the world.
During a recent appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Johnson was probed by host Scott Feinberg.
‘Before anyone else in the world had reported the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed, how did you know that had happened?’ he asked.
Despite appearing hesitant to answer at first, the now 53-year-old explained how the infamous tweet unfolded.
‘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 [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.’
However, the President had yet to step up to the podium, with the former WWE Champion then alerted to his massive slip-up.
He went on: ‘I get a second call, and the call is, “Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet”. And I went, “Oh s***”.’
It was at 9:45pm EDT on the evening of May 1, 2011 that The White House announced that the President would be addressing the nation later on in the evening.
When President Obama did eventually announce that the terror group’s leader – who was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks – had been killed, he explained: ‘Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
‘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. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.’
Johnson was previously asked about the early leak in 2012. At the time 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 also maintained that he had mixed up the timings of when the US leader was set to address the nation.
‘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.’
After 9/11, the US invaded Afghanistan and launched the war on terror, with Bin Laden becoming the target of a nearly decade-long international manhunt.
He was eventually killed by US special operations forces at his compound in Pakistan.
Johnson is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, wrestling for eight years before pursuing an acting career.
In the years since his films have grossed over $14.9billion (£11.3billion) worldwide, making him one of the world’s highest-grossing actors of all time.
He’s appeared in films including The Scorpion King, Moana and the recently released film The Smashing Machine – which some are predicting could secure him an Oscar nomination.
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