Earlier this month, Dwayne Johnson threw shade at one of his Fast 8 castmates without mentioning the person by name.
It was later revealed that the “candyass” the Rock was referring to was none other than franchise OG Vin Diesel.
For a while, it looked like a full-blow Johnson vs. Diesel feud was in effect.
Now, however, one insider is claiming that the whole thing is just a stunt that will parlay into a WWE match between the two actors, which will in turn serve as a promotional gimmick for Fast 8.
“They are playing a huge prank, and it’s all for publicity,” a source tells Life & Style magazine.
“The Rock convinced Vin to amp up the drama between them so they could turn it into a WWE match to help promote the April 2017 release of Fast 8.”
In a way, it makes perfect sense.
After all, Johnson got his start in wrestling, and the social media rant in which he called Diesel out was pretty out of character for the affable entertainer:
“My female co-stars are always amazing and I love ’em,” Johnson wrote.
“My male co-stars however are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t.
“The ones that don’t are too chicken shit to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses.
“When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling – you’re right.
“Bottom line is it’ll play great for the movie and fits this Hobbs character that’s embedded in my DNA extremely well. The producer in me is happy about this part.”
In another sense, however, the revelation that Johnson and Diesel are faking the whole thing raises more questions than it answers.
Aren’t these two playing it kind of subtle if the goal is to drum up publicity?
We’d expect something a bit more over-the-top.
And why is Diesel saying nice things about Johnson in interviews if the two of them are pretending to have beef?
Johnson’s rant contained some strong words, but in the weeks since he posted it, he’s been acting like he’d more or less like to just move on from the situation.
And this is not a guy who has a problem pretending to be pissed off.
If the two of them square off in a ring right before the release of their film, we’ll eat our words.
But for now, we’re maintaining that the bad blood is genuine.
And we’re very much looking forward to seeing Diesel and the Rock share some tense screentime together in April.
