The Rock was booed for upcoming wrestling villain role, not for supporting Joe Biden

Boos and jeers are a standard feature in the pageantry of wrestling. But was the jeering of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at a World Wrestling Entertainment event linked to his support for President Joe Biden?

A Feb. 11 Instagram video that shared a clip of the actor and wrestler being booed said he is “a Joe Biden lover” and included a hammer-and-sickle graphic, a communist symbol. The video’s text said, “The Rock gets angry — gets MASSIVE BOOS from fans in Las Vegas. Rock is a Joe Biden lover. Rock supports Joe Biden.”

The post’s comments say the “Black Adam” and “Scorpion King” star’s “endorsement of sleepy Joe has cost him fans,” and that he is “another American who is anti America.”

The Instagram post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Johnson was booed during a Feb. 8 Las Vegas press conference to promote WrestleMania 40, which will take place in April. WWE performances are scripted and dramatized; the boos were because of Johnson’s role as a villain in Philadelphia at WrestleMania 40, Johnson said in an X post.

Johnson was replying to a Feb. 9 X post with different claims about the crowd’s boos by conservative podcast host Nick Sortor, who wrote in all caps, “Crowd in Vegas boos ‘The Rock’ demanding he follow through with aid for Maui.” Johnson had established a fund with Oprah Winfrey to support Maui wildfire victims in his home state of Hawaii. Sortor’s X post also said “many victims still have not seen a dime” and that the crowd chanted “MAUI! MAUI! MAUI!”

Johnson reposted Sortor’s post on Feb. 11, describing it as “toxic, false clickbait garbage.” Johnson said the boos were because “I turned ‘heel’ — wrestling parlance for bad guy. I’m playing it up with our crowd as they boo. It’s what we do in our WWE universe, and we all love every second of it.”

PolitiFact reviewed an event livestream, and it did not show the crowd chanting “Maui.”

Johnson endorsed Biden in the 2020 elections but has not endorsed anyone in the 2024 presidential election.

We rate the claim that Johnson was booed in Las Vegas because he’s a Biden supporter False.

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was booed by fans at a World Wrestling Entertainment event for playing the role of villain in an upcoming match.
Johnson endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 but has not endorsed anyone in the 2024 presidential election.
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