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You’re gonna wanna buckle in for this one.
There was no shortage of things to discuss about Sunday night’s Golden Globes — particularly the fact that the ceremony may have seen the reignition of one of Hollywood’s most public costar feuds.
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During the show, Vin Diesel took to the stage to present the award for film cinematic and box office achievement. But, before handing out the trophy to the cast of Wicked, the actor paused to cheekily acknowledge Dwayne Johnson, who was seated in the audience.
Rich Polk / Penske Media via Getty Images
“Hey Dwayne,” he said pointedly as the camera cut to show his former costar — and the smile that quickly vanished from his face.
In light of the complicated history between these two, a palpable sense of discomfort spread across the crowd of celebs, many of whom burst into awkward laughter. And by the sounds of it, the discomfort also extended behind the scenes, where the Globes’ producers feared that something ugly was about to unfold — à la Will Smith and Chris Rock, perhaps.
Rich Polk / Penske Media via Getty Images
Speaking to Variety after the show, executive producer Glenn Weiss revealed that Vin’s line was totally unscripted, saying: “It kind of keeps you gripped, and even you in the press room, us in the truck, are going, ‘Wait, what? What’s happening?’”
“At that point, there’s a live event taking place,” he continued, “and our job is to bring it to you and let you decipher it. What is the exchange going on between them? I think it’s really important to show what’s happening in the room.”
Fortunately, as far as we saw, the interaction went no further than a few icy stares and some awkward tension. But, as anyone familiar with their feud will know, it’s not out of the question for things to get heated between these two.
Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
So, without further ado, here’s a full recap of their never-ending beef, which seemingly began around 2016 while the pair were making the eighth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, The Fate of the Furious.
Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
In case you’re not familiar with the world of the Fast & Furious movies, Vin plays Dominic Toretto in all the films, except 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious, in which he does not appear. Meanwhile, Dwayne has played Luke Hobbs in five films across the beloved franchise, including one 2019 spin-off called Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, in which he starred opposite Jason Statham.
In August 2016, Dwayne shared a since-deleted Instagram post where he praised his female costars — but had much less nice things to say about some of the men he was working with.
James Devaney / WireImage
“There’s no other franchise that gets my blood boiling more than this one,” he wrote at the time. “My female costars are always amazing and I love ’em. My male costars, however, are a different story.”
Without naming names, he continued: “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.”
Looking toward the film’s 2017 release, Dwayne also warned fans that if it “seems like [he’s] not acting” in some of the more heated scenes, they’re “right.” “My blood is legit boiling,” he said.
Though Dwayne didn't blast Vin by name, People reported that a feud between the costars had been building up behind the scenes for quite some time, with inside sources claiming that Vin had issues with his Dwayne “delaying production” by allegedly showing up late to set. However, other outlets claimed that it was actually Vin who’d repeatedly been late.
Fotonoticias / WireImage
When the eighth Fast & Furious movie eventually came out in April 2017, the rumored feud took the first of many surprising turns when Vin assured fans that the alleged fallout between himself and Dwayne had been “blown out of proportion” and that they were totally fine.
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“I don’t think the world really realizes how close we are, in a weird way,” he said during an interview with USA Today. “I know he appreciates how much I work this franchise. In my house, he’s Uncle Dwayne.”
Speaking highly of their bond, Vin added: “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… Dwayne has only got one Vin in his life. Dwayne Johnson only has one big brother in this film world, and that’s me.”
We now fast forward to 2021, which is where the back-and-forth really starts to ramp up. During an interview with Men’s Health in June 2021, Vin — who, it should be noted, is a producer on the Fast & Furious franchise — backtracked on his past comments and explained that the rift stemmed from him adopting a “tough love” approach to ensuring that Dwayne nailed his performance as Hobbs.
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images, Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic
“It was a tough character to embody… My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be,” he said of Dwayne. “I could give a lot of tough love. Not Felliniesque, but I would do anything I'd have to do in order to get performances in anything I'm producing.”
Vin’s sugguestion that his costar needed a helping hand with his acting certainly did not go down well with Dwayne, who addressed the comments a month later as he confirmed — much to fans’ shock and disappointment — that he’d be leaving the Fast & Furious franchise.
Donna Ward / Getty Images
“I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that,” Dwayne told the Hollywood Reporter in July 2021 when asked about Vin’s “tough love” comments. “I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me,” he added, making it clear that ties had firmly been cut.
And that certainly wasn’t the last we heard from Dwayne on the matter. During another interview with Vanity Fair in October of that year, he broached the topic more candidly than ever before, saying: “One part of me feels like there's no way I would dignify any of that bullshit with an answer.”
Jeff Spicer / Jeff Spicer / Getty Images
“I've been around the block a lot of times. Unlike [Vin], I did not come from the world of theater,” he added. “And, you know, I came up differently and was raised differently.”
Dwayne also seemed to hit back at the 2016 reports about his work ethic, adding: “I go into every project giving it my all. And if I feel that there's some things that need to be squared away and handled and taken care of, then I do it. And it's just that simple.”
Around the time of Dwayne’s initial Instagram post that brought their feud to light in 2016, TMZ published reports that the two actors had a “secret meeting” where they attempted to hash out their issues privately. And in his Vanity Fair interview, Dwayne confirmed that this did happen, but that it wasn’t exactly a “peaceful meeting.”
Tristar Media / WireImage
“I would call it a meeting of clarity,” he said, describing himself and Vin as “philosophically two different people.” “He and I had a good chat in my trailer, and it was out of that chat that it really became just crystal clear that we are two separate ends of the spectrum. And agreed to leave it there.”
The Moana star also wasn’t very pleased about Vin’s comments to USA Today about him being his “one big brother in this film world.” Hitting back at this, Dwayne pointedly told VF: “I have one big brother and it's my half brother. And that's it.”
So, with Dwayne having made his stance on the subject very clear, things took another unexpected in November 2021 when Vin posted a lengthy statement on Instagram publicly begging his former costar to put their differences aside and return to the Fast & Furious franchise.
Bsr Agency / Getty Images, @vindiesel / Instagram / Via instagram.com
“My little brother Dwayne... the time has come,” the caption began, pointedly echoing that “big brother” dispute and brining his own kids into the discussion. “The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes... but the time has come.”
He continued: “I say this out of love... but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play. Hobbs can’t be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.”
And if you thought Vin’s public plea would do the trick and the two would patch things up, then, I’m sorry to say, you’d be wrong. A month later, Dwayne responded to Vin’s Instagram post, calling it an act of “manipulation” after he’d already privately turned down his request to return to the franchise.
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“I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return,” Dwayne told CNN, confirming he was “surprised” by the move. “I privately spoke with my partners at Universal as well, all of whom were very supportive as they understand the problem.”
“My goal all along was to end my amazing journey with this incredible Fast & Furious franchise with gratitude and grace,” he said, wishing luck to his former costars and crew members on the “next chapter” of the movie series. “It's unfortunate that this public dialogue has muddied the waters.”
Staying true to his word, Dwayne did not appear in the ninth Fast & Furious movie, F9. However, he did decide to return for a surprise cameo in 2023's FastX...are you keeping track?
Peter Mountain /© Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
According to director Louis Leterrier, the post-credits cameo came about after he invited Dwayne and his team to watch the complete film ahead of its release in May 2023.
“He came to see the movie and really loved it, and then we started talking,” Louis told the Hollywood Reporter. “It was very smooth.”
With the cameo seemingly signifying the long-awaited end of the beef, Dwayne subsequently confirmed that his Fast & Furious chapter was, in fact, not over and that he would be returning to play Hobbs. *Cue cheers from the crowd*
Hope you’ve got your funderwear on…
HOBBS IS BACK.
And he just got lei’d 🌺😈
Luke Hobbs will be returning to the Fast & Furious franchise.
Your reactions around the world to Hobbs’ return in Fast X have blown us away 🤯🙏🏾🌍
The next Fast & Furious film you’ll see the… pic.twitter.com/vvtBgTBOnl
Twitter: @TheRock
“Last summer Vin and I put all the past behind us. We’ll lead with brotherhood and resolve - and always take care of the franchise, characters & FANS that we love,” he wrote on X, then known as Twitter.
In an accompanying video, Dwayne told fans: “Despite us having our differences, me and Vin, we’ve been like brothers for years... You think about plans that are much bigger than ourselves and those bigger plans are the bigger build-outs. Those bigger plans are the north star, as I always like to say.”
And so, for the longest time, that was the end of the story — until Vin’s Golden Globes dig indicated that the two actors might still be at odds… for reasons we are yet to learn.
Rich Polk / Penske Media via Getty Images
However, in yet another exciting turn of events, Vin has since taken to Instagram to subtly reassure fans that his shoutout to Dwayne was done in good faith... or so, we think.
Buda Mendes / LatinContent via Getty Images / @vindiesel / Instagram / Via instagram.com
On Tuesday, Vin posted a photograph of himself and Dwayne from 2011, captioning it: "All love... Always..."
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