Universal
A little over a week ago, just prior to WrestleMania, we brought you a report that said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Vin Diesel were still beefing so hard that they had to be kept apart on the Fate of the Furious press tour.
According to The Hollywood Reporter…
Sources say the two tough-guy actors are being kept from one another as the Fast team continues its press tour in the run-up to the F. Gary Gray-helmed film hitting theaters April 14.
“They’re keeping them separated as much as possible,” says an insider.
That sequestering will be most obvious today when Universal brings footage of the film to CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where Diesel, Charlize Theron and the rest of the cast will be on hand to promote the eighth installment in the $4 billion franchise. That is minus Johnson, who is already back on the set of Ballers in Miami. But just 12 hours earlier, Johnson was in Las Vegas, participating in Paramount’s Baywatch presentation at CinemaCon. And Monday night, he introduced Sony’s Jumanji at the high-profile exhibition showcase.
This all stemmed from a post The Rock shared on Instagram at the close of filming Fast 8 where he called “someone” a candy ass and “chicken shit.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI25NjMDPWv/
Turns out that the tirade was reportedly directed at Vin Diesel.
In the months since it had been speculated that their feud was all a work for some kind of promo at WrestleMania.
That ended up not happening.
Nor did Vin Diesel ever come through on his promise to tell us “everything.”
Now, with their movie set to be released on April 14th, both parties involved have finally addressed the elephant in the room.
Universal
The Rock, for his part, didn’t really walk back what he had to say in his rant of eight months ago, telling Entertainment Tonight…
“Just like in life, you have different philosophies and people have different fundamental philosophies on how you do things. And again, the most important thing is just the movie. So I’m happy that we’re here in New York City, I’m happy the fans love it.”
That certainly didn’t sound like someone who has completely mended fences.
As for Diesel, he was in full promo mode, saying that his relationship with The Rock is all good, telling USA Today…
“I don’t think the world really realizes how close we are, in a weird way,” says Diesel, who steered clear of the specifics of their disagreement. “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.”
While there was creative tension on the set, Diesel says he takes the main blow at times as a producer.
“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,” says 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.”
So the two have have hugged it out and they’re good?
“Always, always, always. I’m always rooting for Dwayne. I’m the first multicultural megastar in Hollywood. They didn’t exist,” says Diesel. “To see another multicultural star come up is something I am very proud of. I’m always rooting Dwayne on.”
Hmmm… I guess we’ll find out if the “two alphas,” as Diesel calls them, really are back on the same page when the cast is announced for Fast 9 and whether The Rock is on it or not.
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