One of Hollywood’s most notable feuds briefly resurfaced during Sunday night’s Golden Globes.
While presenting at the event, Vin Diesel glanced into the audience and said, “Hey, Dwayne,” prompting the cameras to cut to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Johnson responded with what appeared to be an awkward smile, drawing laughter from some attendees who likely recalled the long-standing tension between the former Fast & Furious co-stars.
Their strained relationship became public in 2016 when Johnson shared a now-deleted Instagram post during the filming of The Fate of the Furious.
In the post, he called out unnamed male co-stars, stating, “Some [male co-stars] conduct themselves as stand-up men and true professionals, while others don’t.” The comment fueled widespread speculation that Johnson was referring to Diesel.
In another Instagram post from the same period, Johnson shared a video from the set and emphasized the importance of teamwork.
“You guys reading this know how much I believe in the idea of TEAM EFFORT. That means respecting every person, their time, and their value when they step onto my set or partner with our production company,” Johnson wrote. “And like with any team—that’s a family—there’s gonna be conflict.”
“Family is gonna have differences of opinion and fundamental core beliefs,” he continued. “To me, conflict can be a good thing when it’s followed by great resolution.”
Years later, Diesel offered his perspective on their falling out in a 2021 interview with Men’s Health. As a producer on the Fast & Furious franchise, Diesel claimed he had to employ a firm approach with Johnson, who portrayed Luke Hobbs.
“It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character,” Diesel explained. “My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be.
As a producer, I thought, ‘Okay, we’re going to take Dwayne Johnson, who’s associated with wrestling, and we’re going to force this cinematic world, audience members, to regard his character as someone that they don’t know—Hobbs hits you like a ton of bricks.’”
However, Johnson didn’t entirely embrace Diesel’s methods. In a 2018 interview, Johnson reflected on their working relationship.
“What I came to realize is that we have a fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating,” he said. “It took me some time, but I’m grateful for that clarity. Whether we work together again or not.”
In a 2021 Vanity Fair profile, Johnson addressed Diesel’s comments about helping with his performance, dismissing them outright.
“I’ve been around the block a lot of times. Unlike him, I did not come from the world of theater,” Johnson said.
“You know, I came up differently and was raised differently. And I came from a completely different culture and environment,” he continued. “I go into every project giving it my all.
And if I feel that there are some things that need to be squared away and handled and taken care of, then I do it. And it’s just that simple.”
After their clashes, Johnson went on to headline the 2019 spin-off Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. However, he was notably absent from the 2021 release F9. Since then, Diesel and Johnson have not worked together again.
