Dwayne Johnson won’t return to ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, citing Vin Diesel’s ‘manipulation’
The two stars have famously been at odds since working together on 2017's franchise entry, 'The Fate of the Furious.'
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has responded to Vin Diesel’s request that they end their beef and reunite for the 10th installment of the Fast and Furious franchise.
Johnson and Diesel have famously been at odds since 2016 when they first started working on franchise entry, The Fate of the Furious. The two have since publicly traded jabs until Diesel took to Instagram in November to share a lengthy message about wanting to bury the hatchet with Johnson.
“My little brother Dwayne … the time has come,” wrote Diesel, alongside a photo of himself with Johnson in Fast Five. “The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes… but the time has come.”
“Legacy awaits,” Diesel continued. “I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo. I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love … but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play.”
In a new interview with CNN, Johnson called his co-star’s recent post manipulative.
“I was very surprised by Vin’s recent post. This past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly – and privately – that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return,” Johnson said in his interview.
“Vin’s recent public post was an example of his manipulation,” he maintained. “I didn’t like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker’s death. Leave them out of it. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding.”
“My goal all along was to end my amazing journey with this incredible franchise with gratitude and grace,” Johnson continued. “It’s unfortunate that this public dialogue has muddied the waters. Regardless, I’m confident in the Fast universe and its ability to consistently deliver for the audience … I truly wish my former co-stars and crew members the best of luck and success in the next chapter.”
Diesel is not the only Fast co-star that Johnson has sparred with over the blockbuster movie franchise. Tyrese Gibson revealed late last year during an interview on Stir Crazy with Josh Horowitz that the two had patched things up, theGrio reported.
Gibson shared then that he and Johnson had called a truce following a lengthy heart-to-heart conversation that allowed them to finally let bygones be bygones.
“Here’s the thing, and I actually said this about The Rock, me and The Rock peaced up by the way; we talked for four hours about three weeks ago,” Gibson recalled. “Yeah, we talked. We did at least four hours, it was great.”
The rift initially began after Gibson accused Johnson of being selfish for signing on to do a spin-off movie which had a shooting schedule that pushed back the release date of Furious 9.
At the time, Gibson took several personal shots at Johnson on social media, but now admits: “What’s interesting about The Fast & The Furious is it’s not about any of us individually. See, we’re like the UN at this point. It’s just like, we kinda, everyone gets to go to the theater and say ‘He and she looks like me.’”
Fast & Furious 10 is set to hit theaters on May 19, 2023.
This article contains additional reporting from theGrio’s Blue Telusma.
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