“Just got word that will shock the world - Land of the free…home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!” Johnson wrote on Twitter at the time.

Dwayne Johnson reveals how he accidentally announced Osama bin Laden’s death before the president: ‘Oh s---’

"Just got word that will shock the world - Land of the free...home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!" Johnson wrote on Twitter at the time.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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November 7, 2025 7:11 p.m. ET

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Dwayne Johnson; Barack Obama. Credit:

Emma McIntyre/Getty; Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Bloomberg via Getty

Dwayne "The President" Johnson, is that you?

During a recent appearance on the *Awards Chatter* podcast, the *Smashing Machine* star was asked about that time he announced that al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden had been killed... before then-president Barack Obama shared the news with the public. So, how did it go down, according to Johnson?

The actor explained that he has "a friend of a friend" who gave him a call to relay the news — though he doesn't name this person. "The call was like, 'Hey, this thing happened,'" he added. "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."

Johnson continued, "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---.'"

Dwayne Johnson in his new film, 'The Smashing Machine'.

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The tweet in question, which was indeed shared on May 1, 2011, read: "Just got word that will shock the world - Land of the free...home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!"

Of course, at around 11:35 p.m. EDT that same evening, Obama gave a televised address from the White House in which he said bin Laden, who orchestrated the 9/11 terrorist attacks, had been killed.

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan,” Obama said at the time. “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.”

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Speaking with Moviefone in 2012, Johnson remained similarly secretive about who this friend of a friend source was.

“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. 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.”**

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