US

FACT CHECK: Does This Photo Show Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson On ‘Epstein Island’?

An image shared on Facebook over 600 times purportedly shows actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the private Caribbean island owned by late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Verdict: False

The image has been photoshopped. Johnson’s name does not appear in Epstein’s flight logs.

Fact Check:

Social media users have attempted to link celebrities such as actor Tom Hanks and TV personality Oprah Winfrey to Epstein’s Little St. James, the private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands that, according to Oprah Magazine, locals nicknamed “Pedophile Island,” “Orgy Island” and “Island of Sin.” Epstein, who was charged with federal sex trafficking crimes and later found dead of an apparent suicide in his jail cell, is alleged to have abused girls on the island, The Associated Press reported.

This particular Facebook post claims to show Johnson on Little St. James. In the photo, Johnson sits on a beach reading a book, with a blue-striped, golden-domed building like the one seen on Little St. James visible atop a bluff in the background. The caption reads, “Epstein Island.”

However, the building has been photoshopped into the image. A reverse image search reveals the picture of Johnson stems from a screen grab of an episode of the HBO comedy-drama TV series “Ballers.” Images from the episode, as well as a review of the scene by the Daily Caller News Foundation, confirm there is no such building visible in the background.

The scene occurs in the fifth season’s first episode, which aired on Aug. 25, 2019, and can be watched on HBO’s streaming service. The beach scene was filmed in Malibu, California, according to an HBO spokesperson.

The scene drew some media attention, not because of the location, but rather because of what Johnson’s character was reading: Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s book “This Fight Is Our Fight.” The book appears to be a nod to Warren, who is reportedly a longtime fan of the show. She has tweeted about it on several occasions.

Can’t wait for the Season 5 premiere of @BallersHBO tonight (Bruce and I still can’t believe there won’t be a Season 6). And congrats @TheRock on your marriage!

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 25, 2019

“Can’t wait for the Season 5 premiere of @BallersHBO tonight (Bruce and I still can’t believe there won’t be a Season 6),” reads one such 2019 tweet from the former Democratic presidential candidate.

The DCNF didn’t find any credible media reports linking Johnson to Epstein. Johnson’s name does not appear in a searchable database of Epstein’s flight logs.