A Full Guide To The Latest ‘Fast And The Furious’ Feud
The family is feuding... again.
Last year fans of the Fast and the Furious franchise (aka everyone who enjoys good art) were forced to suffer through one of the most devastating feuds in recent pop culture history.
Rumours of a vicious rift between Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Vin Diesel dominated pre-release media coverage of the series’ eighth instalment, The Fate of the Furious. The feud played out mainly through shady Instagram posts, including one where The Rock implied Diesel was a “candy ass”, but once the film came out everyone forgot about the fighting and focused on the cars instead.
Until now!
We regret to inform to you that the family… is back at it.
Yesterday Universal Studios announced that the ninth film in the franchise, which is yet to be named, would be released on April 10, 2020. Not only is that very, very far away, it’s also a full year later than the film was originally supposed to be released.
So what’s going on? Well, according to series veteran Tyrese Gibson, it’s all The Rock’s fault.
In a pretty direct Instagram post Gibson accused the The Rock of making the franchise “about you” and blamed him for the delay. He went on to suggest the next film could be “another Baywatch“, the big-budget blockbuster starring The Rock and Zac Efron that was panned by critics.
Gibson also said that he wouldn’t delete the post “even if they call”.
This kind of beef between actors on the Fast and the Furious isn’t unique, as we’ve already covered, but it’s rare for shots to be fired in such a blunt and direct manner. Unfortunately for Tyrese it doesn’t look like he as a lot of support for his public vendetta, with people pointing out that The Rock is probably filming a bunch of different things because, unlike Gibson, he’s a pretty successful actor outside of the franchise.
just because tyrese only films one movie every other year doesnt meant rock has to https://t.co/2Og7EGjcZu
— Justin Davis #AShow (@OGJOHNNY5) October 5, 2017
Tyrese gotta calm down and get some other roles in the mean time…. It's not the Rock fault that he's BOOKED lol. https://t.co/cyDWIp5RzE
— Vince Valholla (@VinceValholla) October 5, 2017
On behalf of the dark skinned tiny eyes coalition @Tyrese please chill.
— Hannibal Buress (@hannibalburess) October 5, 2017
My guy @Tyrese not going to stop until the Rock challenges him to a duel at Wrestlemania.
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) October 5, 2017
The *real* reason why Tyrese is mad at Dwayne… pic.twitter.com/iUmmty6RfG
— Seán (@ReelFada) October 5, 2017
But that’s not all! A few hours ago Gibson posted an even more aggressive message on Instagram blaming The Rock for ruining the entire franchise.
“Diversity, love, multi-ethnic worldwide multi generational, United Nations, One Race, Fast Family…… Until Dewayne [sic] showed up…” Gibson wrote. “I guess this whole time he had a problem cause he wasn’t the ONLY ONE on the movie poster.
“I was simply fighting to keep the family together what makes us great is when you see us all TOGETHER we don’t fly solo.”
According to the post, Gibson is specifically upset about the fact The Rock is reportedly filming a spinoff film focusing on his character from the series, Luke Hobbs.
“They offered but YOU didn’t have to agree with a solo #HobbsMovie,” he said.
Look, while I can understand Gibson’s annoyance that the film has been delayed it all seems a bit over the top. When you’re working with such a large cast there are going to be scheduling conflicts. And even though I’m sad there’s going to be a long wait for the next film, at least there’s going to be one.
The saddest thing about this feud is that it seems hard to see how such a bitter and personal problem between two of the main cast members can translate to a harmonious production. Let’s hope Vin Diesel steps in to cool things off before the whole franchise blows up like the superheated engine he races in Havana at the beginning of The Fate of the Furious.