Overview
- Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Johnson said a “friend of a friend” phoned to say the mission had succeeded and that President Obama would speak in about 20 minutes.
- He tweeted roughly five minutes after that window passed and then learned the address had not started, recalling his “oh s---” reaction to the timing mistake.
- Johnson’s May 1, 2011 post read, “Just got word that will shock the world… DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!” and went up at about 10:24 p.m. EDT, well before Obama’s televised confirmation later that night.
- Coverage notes that then–Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s chief of staff Keith Urbahn publicly tweeted specific details about bin Laden’s death roughly four minutes before Johnson’s hint.
- Johnson has not identified the intermediary, and outlets report no independent confirmation linking his tip to those involved in the operation.