Did Arnold Schwarzenegger post a picture of himself sleeping outside by his own statue because a hotel refused him service? No, that's not true: The image was posted by the former California governor as a joke while he was filming a movie in Ohio. The image had nothing to do with the caption of a social media post that claimed he had been given rooms at a hotel while he was an elected official but denied one when he was out of office. That story is pure fiction.
The claim appeared as a Facebook post (archived here) on April 14, 2022. It reads:
Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor, judge and educatorHe photographed him sleeping in the street under his famous bronze statue and wistfully wrote: 'How times have changed...The reason he wrote the proposal was not only because he was old, but also because when he was governor of California, he opened a hotel in front of him, where the hotel officials told him:At any time you can come and reserve a room in your name for life.When Arnold left the government and went to a hotel, management refused to give him a room on the grounds that the hotel was fully booked.So he brought a blanket... and fell asleep under the statue... and asked people to take pictures of it...Arnold wanted to send an important message.. that when he was in power and had a position.. everyone praised him and the hypocrites.. and when he lost this position, they forgot him and did not fulfill their promise to him..Yes..times change..it doesn't depend on your situation..or your money..or your strength..or your mind.. All this won't last long..and only a memory will remain of it. And your good deeds that you have done in life
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Apr 20 20:09:22 2022 UTC)
Schwarzenegger posted the image to his Twitter account on January 15, 2016, with the caption, "How times have changed."
How times have changed. pic.twitter.com/GdFo0BHjKK
-- Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 15, 2016
He also posted it to his Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Schwarzenegger was in Columbus, Ohio filming the movie "478" when he stopped by the statue and took the shot, according to an article by People magazine.
The statue of Schwarzenegger in a bodybuilding pose was unveiled in 2012 near the Franklin County Veterans Memorial and moved by the city's convention center in 2014, news station 10 WBNS reported. Schwarzenegger has close ties to Columbus, where the Arnold Sports Festival is held each year.
