The Rock sparks debate for joking to cop that he has 'lots of guns' in his car

Not all Americans would feel comfortable making jokes about guns to a policeman.

But then again, not all Americans are Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson.

The world’s highest-paid actor was approached by a cop outside an American football stadium last week when he made a risky wisecrack.

The officer asked the Hollywood star to ready his car for a security check when he replied: “I can,” before adding: “I’ve got a lot of guns in this.”

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The armed cop replied: “OK…,” before the Rock clenched his massive biceps and clarified: “These kind.”

Smiling as the guard burst out with nervous laughter, he concluded: “There's always room for a cheesy joke, I know. You're welcome".

The wrestler-turned-actor recorded the interaction and later posted it to TikTok, admitting that his joke had been “absolutely horrible” but his timing had been “impeccable”.

To emphasise that he wasn't trying to offend members of law enforcement, he added: “All love, gratitude and respect for our men and women keeping us all safe.”

His clip racked up 43.6 million views and 3.1 million likes in just four days, as thousands of fans offered their take on the encounter.

It was met with glee by countless viewers, who delighted in the “dad joke” and imagined how the cop must have felt faced with one of the most famous men on the planet.

However, others pointed out that not many people would be able to goof around like that and get away with it.

“Must be nice to be famous and make that kind of joke,” commented one TikToker.

“The Rock must think he’s a rock for real playing like that,” wrote another.

“Only Dwayne could get away with that joke. If he was any other person the cops might just shoot,” said a third.

As a study published in the Lancet points out, “fatal police violence is an urgent public health crisis in the USA”.

According to the research piece, “mounting evidence shows that deaths at the hands of the police disproportionately impact people of certain races and ethnicities, pointing to systemic racism in policing.”

It was all innocent fun for the Rock, but our solemn advice would be to steer clear of making firearm jokes to cops.

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