Arnold Schwarzenegger did not sleep on the street in front of his statue, because a hotel denied him free room

World-renowned Hollywood icon Arnold Schwarzenegger started off as a professional bodybuilder and then shot to fame as an action star in Hollywood. Later, he went on to become the 38^th Governor of California and was in the office from 2003 to 2011.

The Facebook page of Anuradha Nanayakkara carried the following post, along with an image of Arnold Schwarzenegger sleeping on a sleeping bag right in front of a statue of his, the caption of the post read as follows:

“Famed actor Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a photo of himself sleeping in the street under his bronze statue and sadly wrote: "How times have changed." When Arnold was governor of California, he was at the opening of this hotel, cut the red ribbon and opened this hotel himself.

That's when the hotel management told Arnold, "at any time you can come and get a room reserved for you." When Arnold left his post as governor and went to the hotel, management refused to provide him with a room, demanding payment, since their hotel was in high demand.

He brought a sleeping bag and slept next to the statue, explaining that he wanted to tell people: "When I was in an important position, they always praised me, when I lost this position, they forgot about me and didn't keep their promises. Don't trust your positions... Not the amount of money, not your strength, not your intelligence, nothing lasts forever. "

So appreciate your loved ones, those who are around, give them time, pay attention to them. Relationships with people are of real value. No material goods or statuses will replace them. In search of prosperity and glory, you may miss something truly valuable...”

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Even though a good social message is being conveyed through these posts, still it is hard to believe that such an incident actually happened. Also, may readers sent us requests to verify the incident which prompted us to do a fact check of this claim.

Fact Check

We carried out a key word search and a google reverse image search and came across a number of social media posts and other reports associated with this image. The photograph is legitimate and was taken in January 2016, while the Hollywood star was shooting a film in Columbus, Ohio.

Schwarzenegger had posted the photograph, probably as a joke, on his social profiles (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) in January 2016 with the caption “How times have changed”

According to Wikipedia, the statue originally installed outside the Franklin County Veterans Memorial in 2012, but relocated to the present site, outside the Greater Columbus Convention Center in 2014. There is no Hotel opposite the statue as Facebook post of Anuradha Nanayakkara claims.

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Given below is the map of the location and an image of the location.

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In addition, in a photo article “Daily Mail” had posted along with the caption "The actor pretended he posed as homeless to sleep and possibly appear underneath a statue of his former self in Ohio"

Similar claims were shared among Tamil community in Sri Lanka as well and here is our fact check in Tamil.

We also learned that the photograph was taken during the 478 (Aftermath) movie production as stated in a number of reports

Conclusion

Our fact check reveals that the star actor himself posted the image associated with this claim back in 2016 during shooting of a movie in Columbus, Ohio. Also, the statue was placed in front of a convention center and there was no Hotel opposite to the statue. Arnold probably played a prank which was mistaken by many who presumed he was going through a rough patch.

Hence, we conclude the posts, which claim that Arnold Schwarzenegger was forced to sleep on street in front of his statue, because a hotel denied a free room for him, are false.