Photo of Dwayne Johnson wearing a ‘Keep America Trumpless’ shirt has been edited

By: Soham Shah
November 30 2023

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Comparison of an edited image of Johnson wearing a “KEEP AMERICA TRUMPLESS” t-shirt with the original image. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What's the claim?

A photo of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been shared on social media, purportedly showing him wearing a "Keep America Trumpless" shirt. One user shared the photo with the caption, "I couldn't agree with ⁦@TheRock⁩ more." The post has also gone viral several times before. Archive links of such posts can be accessed here and here.

Posts showing Dwayne Johnson purportedly wearing a "Keep America Trumpless" t-shirt. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we found that this photo has been digitally manipulated.

What's the truth?

Using Google reverse image search, we found the same photo used by multiple media publications like News18 and The Stranger without any source attribution. However, in this version, the slogan reads "San Andreas Fire Department" and not "Keep America Trumpless."

We found the photo initially posted on the Warner Bros website for "San Andreas," a film released in May 2015. We found that the original version is a still from the film, showing the same white background with a red blob as seen in the viral photo. Johnson can be seen wearing the same sunglasses, black belt, and blue trousers. However, some color corrections have been made in the edited version.

It was also posted on the verified Facebook page of the film on May 2, 2021, in a post for the actor's birthday. 

Comparison of the viral photo and the original photo (Source: X, Facebook/@San Andreas/Modified by Logically Facts)

Several other snapshots on the "San Andreas" website show Johnson in the same outfit, caught amid different actions. 

This edited photo of Johnson has been shared many times over the years on social media and continues to resurface despite being debunked by several fact-checking outlets.

Logically Facts has previously debunked edited photos of actor Tom Hanks wearing a "Keep America Trumpless" t-shirt. Other organizations have fact-checked the same claim about celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck.

According to Billboard, Johnson criticized Donald Trump in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests for his lack of leadership. The posts are likely being shared in the context of Trump being a candidate for the Republican Party's presidential nominee for the 2024 U.S. elections. According to The New York Times, the former president is ahead of other Republican candidates in national opinion polls.

The verdict

We have marked this claim as fake as the photo has been digitally manipulated.