Vin Diesel is clearing the air about his yearslong feud with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson after the pair shared an icy exchange at the Golden Globes.
At the awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, on Jan. 5, Diesel hit the stage to present an award for cinematic and box office achievement.
Before reading the nominees, the actor stopped to single out his former “Fast & Furious” franchise co-star, who was seated in the crowd, saying, “Hey, Dwayne.” Johnson appeared to give Diesel an awkward smile and a slight nod in response as the crowd giggled.
The surprising moment soon went viral, and online observers speculated if the duo’s turbulent history had been reignited.
Days later, Diesel seemingly cleared the air about the rumors by sharing a throwback photo of himself embracing the WWE wrestler.
“All love… Always…,” he captioned a Jan. 7 post, alongside a snapshot of himself with Johnson at the 2015 Rio de Janeiro premiere of “Fast 5.”
Johnson, 52, first entered the action film series in “Fast 5” as Luke Hobbs. He starred in four “Fast & Furious” films alongside Diesel, 57, who has produced most of the films in the franchise, from 2011 to 2017. Johnson went on to star in the 2019 spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw” opposite Jason Statham.
Johnson has not publicly addressed Diesel’s Instagram post. HuffPost has reached out to both actor’s reps for comment.
Diesel and Johnson have reportedly had bad blood since 2016, but things kicked into high gear after the latter slammed his unnamed male co-stars as “candy asses” in an Instagram post after working on 2017’s “The Fate of the Furious.” Reports at the time revealed that Johnson’s biting comments were aimed at Diesel.
The pair continued taking jabs at each other over the years in interviews. Johnson later slammed the door on ever coming back to the franchise in 2021 after Diesel publicly pleaded with him.
“This past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly — and privately — that I would not be returning to the franchise,” Johnson said in a Dec. 2021 interview with CNN. “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.
He added, “I privately spoke with my partners at Universal as well, all of whom were very supportive as they understand the problem.”
As of now, though, Diesel and Johnson appeared to have mended their rift. Johnson announced in a June 2023 tweet that he’ll reprise his role as Hobbs in an upcoming “Fast & Furious” project.
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“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,” he wrote at the time.
Johnson added: “The next Fast & Furious film you’ll see the legendary lawman in will be the HOBBS movie that will serve as a fresh, new chapter & set up for FASTX: Part II.”
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