Inside The Rock and Vin Diesel’s ‘Fast 8 Feud’: ‘Tension Has Been Building for Months,’ Says Source (Update)
The Rock and Vin Diesel are at odds. (Photo: Getty Images)
UPDATE: Vin Diesel posted a new video on Instagram sharing a happy update about his daughter learning a new word, and ending with the cryptic promise that before long “I will tell you everything.”
A video posted by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on Aug 10, 2016 at 10:27pm PDT
ORIGINAL POST: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Vin Diesel are officially beefing, and sources say the drama has been brewing for some time.
“Tension has been building up for months,” a source close to the production tells PEOPLE.
Johnson was first to publicly drop hints about the feud with a lengthy Instagram rant calling out “some” of his male co-stars on Monday. But one set source says the problems began with Diesel’s frustrations over the former wrestling pro’s behavior on set on set.
“Vin has been having problems with The Rock because The Rock keeps showing up late for production,” the source explains. “Sometimes he doesn’t show up at all and he’s delaying the production.”
There have also been reports of 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.”
In his Instagram post, Johnson praised the sequel, its “hard working” crew, Universal Studios, and his “amazing” female co-stars. “My male co-stars, 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."
Diesel and Johnson allegedly met Tuesday on the Atlanta set, TMZ reports, to hash out their differences. "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 notes.
Fast 8 co-star Tyrese Gibson came to the Rock’s defense on Tuesday in a since deleted Instagram post, writing, “DJ happens to be one of the most humble, down to earth and professional people I’ve ever worked with.”
But according to the source, Johnson’s tardiness has been an issue for the production, and Diesel, who has been a star in the franchise since the first installment back in 2001, got fed up. “I don’t know what’s going on with The Rock,” says the source. “He is always late and it really has delayed our production. Vin just couldn’t take it anymore."
The Rock took to Instagram again on Wednesday where he posted a video and praised everyone involved with the production of Fast 8.