FACT CHECK: Did Dwayne Johnson Wear This T-Shirt About Ruth Bader Ginsburg?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A post shared on Facebook allegedly shows actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wearing a t-shirt about deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Verdict: False

The image has been photoshopped. Johnson is wearing a plain t-shirt in the original image.

Fact Check:

Ginsburg, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, died in September 2020 and was replaced by Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, according to NPR. Johnson publicly backed President Joe Biden in the November 2020 presidential election, ABC 7 reported.

The Facebook image, shared in Oct. 2020 but is recently being re-shared, claims to show Johnson wearing a t-shirt saying “Vote & Tell Them Ruth Sent You.” The image also went viral on Twitter, with one iteration receiving over 2,000 retweets.

However, this image has been photoshopped. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the image is from Dec. 10, 2019, according to Getty Images. It shows Johnson wearing a plain t-shirt without any political messaging.

“LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 10: Dwayne Johnson is seen at ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on December 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images),” reads the image’s description. (RELATED: Did Dwayne Johnson Wear A ‘Keep America Trumpless’ Shirt?)

There is no evidence that Johnson wore any such shirt in the run-up to the 2020 or 2022 elections. Johnson said that he was focusing on raising his family but did leave the door open to a future presidential bid, according to CNN.

This is not the first time misinformation has spread involving a digitally altered shirt. Check Your Fact recently debunked an image claiming to show actor Tom Hanks wearing a shirt that read “Keep America Trumpless.”

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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