Forget Sports. America's Hottest Rivalry is Dwayne Johnson vs. Fast and Furious Cast
The next movie in The Fast and Furious franchise isn’t set to hit theaters until April 2020, but already there’s a lot of drama surrounding it.
Franchise star Tyrese Gibson took to Instagram on Wednesday to accuse costar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson of holding up the next installment in the hugely successful action franchise for a year past the original 2019 release date.
“Congratulations to @TheRock and your brother in law aka 7 bucks producing partner @hhgarcia41 for making the fast and the furiousfranchise about YOU,” the actor wrote, also taking a dig at Johnson’s last movie Baywatch, which underperformed this summer at the U.S. box office.
Gibson has expressed his displeasure with the actor in the past as rumors swirled that the next installment is being bumped in favor of a standalone movie for Johnson’s character. He took to commenting on Johnson’s Instagram pictures in an attempt to convince the actor not to “fly solo.”
“If you move forward with that #Hobbs Movie you will have purposely ignored the heart to heart moment we had in my sprinter,” Gibson wrote in September. “I don’t wanna hear from you until you remember what we talked about. I’m on your timeline cause you’re not responding to my text messages – #FastFamily is just that a family…….. We don’t fly solo.”
The beef isn’t the only spat among cast members of the enduringly popular franchise. Below is a full rundown of everything that’s been said.
The Rock Fires First Shot
Gibson isn’t the only cast member to butt heads with the 45-year-old actor. A source close to the franchise told PEOPLE in August 2016 that tension between Johnson and Vin Diesel had been “building up for months” due to Johnson’s behavior on set.
The drama first erupted on the set of Fast 8 when Johnson called out some of his male costars as “chicken s—” and “candy-ass.”
In his Instagram post, Johnson praised the sequel, its “hard working” crew, Universal Studios and his “amazing” female costars. “My male costars, however, are a different story,” he wrote. “Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t,” Johnson continued. “The ones that don’t are too chicken s— to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses.”
Gibson took to Instagram in defense of Diesel at the time – who was reportedly the target of his costar’s rant.
“Vin has been having problems with The Rock because The Rock keep showing up late for production,” the insider explained to PEOPLE. “Sometimes he doesn’t show up at all and he’s delaying the production.”
Diesel Reportedly Acts Out
There have also been reports of alleged “diva” behavior on Diesel’s part, especially during the filming of Fast 7. “Vin spent a whole day in his trailer one day,” a source told The Hollywood Reporter in October. “The next day, they waited four hours for him. He called a meeting [May 28] of studio execs to his trailer for two-and-a-half hours to say, ‘What the f— am I doing here?’”
Another source told Page Six that Diesel “was constantly late [when we worked together]. The source added that Diesel “acted like a diva and has held up production before” and that “it’s not surprising that he’s the one The Rock is calling out.”
Diesel has been with the Fast and the Furious franchise since its first installment and has served as a producer on the series since its fourth sequel. Johnson joined in Fast 5.
According to TMZ, their conflict stemmed from decisions Diesel has made as a producer.
Diesel and Johnson allegedly met on the Atlanta set to hash out their differences, TMZ reported in 2016.
“I think there were some words said yesterday about this and that’s what started this whole thing online but the tension has been going on for months,” the source shared at the time.
The Rock Tries to Lay Beef to Rest
Johnson seemingly addressed the issue in another August 2016 Instagram post. While the post focused on a video celebrating the completion of a prison scene, a portion of the post’s caption appears to be an attempt to move forward from the on-set drama.
“You guys reading this know how much I believe in the idea of TEAM EFFORT,” he wrote. “That means respecting every person, their time and their value when they step on to my set or partner with our production company. And like with any team – that’s a family – there’s gonna be conflict.”
He continued, “Family is gonna have differences of opinion and fundamental core beliefs. To me, conflict can be a good thing, when its followed by great resolution. I was raised on healthy conflict and welcome it. And like any family, we get better from it.
“At the end of the day me and #F8 co-stars all agree on the most important thing: Delivering an incredible movie to the world.”
Diesel Makes a Promise to Fans
The next day, Diesel took to Instagram to let his fans know how he’s doing.
The 49-year-old actor explained: “After being on set since literally Christmas, to finally finally finally come home and to learn that little Pauline learned a new word? I’m going to have to share it with you – it’s more important than anything. Her new word kind of describes my spirit and my soul, and most people who stay positive. The new word is ‘Happy.’ ”
“When I heard her say happy, I just lit up in ways I can’t even describe,” he continued, before laying down a promise to speak out: “I will tell you everything. Everything.”
Making Amends
In an April 2017 interview with USA Today, Diesel cleared the air — and appeared the squash the rumored beef with his costar.
“I don’t think the world really realizes how close we are, in a weird way,” Diesel said. “I think some things may be blown out of proportion. I don’t think that was his intention. I know he appreciates how much I work this franchise. In my house, he’s Uncle Dwayne.”
Diesel, who is a producer of the film, added that protecting the franchise extends to his relationship with Johnson.
“I protect the franchise. I protect everybody including Dwayne. I protected Dwayne more than he’ll ever know. And it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t have to know. But he appreciates it. He knows it,” said Diesel. “Dwayne has only got one Vin in his life. Dwayne Johnson only has one big brother in this film world and that’s me.”
