The Entire Dwayne Johnson And Vin Diesel Feud Timeline Explained

Brotherhood. It's a word loaded with complex emotions and meanings, and it's a thematic cornerstone of the "Fast and Furious" films. By this point, everyone knows that Universal's nigh-absurdist action blockbuster franchise is at least ostensibly about family. And expensive cars. And big, burly boys beating each other up in explosively choreographed fight scenes. Most fans also know that the stars behind two of those burly boys –- Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson –- have been beefing at each other through Instagram and various interviews for years, creating a storyline that's almost as entertaining as the "Fast and Furious" movies themselves.

Stardom, like brotherhood, is complicated. As two massive actors who have played chosen brothers on screen for years, Diesel and The Rock were perhaps always bound for some personal and professional clashes. There's only so much space in Hollywood for hulking bald men, after all, and even less within a single series like "Fast and Furious." Still, despite its undeniable entertainment value, the feud between the two has been unfortunate to watch, especially for fans of the franchise who'd like to see Dominic Toretto and Luke Hobbs reunited on screen once more.

Is there any chance of that happening? And how did this all start? Read on for a complete timeline of the feud between Diesel and Johnson — and what it could mean for the future of "Fast and Furious."

On August 8, 2016, one week before production wrapped for "The Fate of the Furious," Johnson took to Instagram and made a post that he then quickly deleted. In it, he praised many members of the film's cast and crew while also calling out a few unnamed people with particularly colorful language. After praising all the women he starred with, Johnson turned his attention to his male costars, saying that "Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't. The ones that don't are too chicken s**t to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses." He added that "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."

A TMZ report published shortly after the post was made claimed that the man Johnson was targeting with his pro wrestling style insult was none other than Diesel himself and that the two actors had major tension on set throughout the production process. On August 10, Johnson made another Instagram post that seemingly swept his previous frustrations under the rug. In it, he thanked the whole cast and crew for their hard work and said that "like with any team — that's a family — there's gonna be conflict. Family is gonna have differences of opinion and fundamental core beliefs ... I was raised on healthy conflict and welcome it. And like any family, we get better from it." Things, at least for the moment, seemed to have calmed back down.

In a November 19, 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Johnson discussed his initial post and his dynamic with Diesel. "I've been in the game a long time," he said when asked about the comments he'd made. "Would Universal [Pictures] have preferred that didn't happen? Sure, we talked about it. The irony is after that and as they do their tracking and all their analysis, the interest shot through the roof to a whole other level."

Johnson's implication seemed to be that, whether or not it was the original motivation for the post, the publicity generated by his online feuding only did good things for "The Fate of the Furious." To be fair, The Rock is a showman, and he came up through a WWE organization where beefing was (and still is) a huge part of publicity. The actual tension between the two stars surely still existed, but it seemed as though Johnson was no longer interested in fanning the flames.

Finally, after months of this back and forth jabbing, "The Fate of the Furious" premiered. Johnson and Diesel both appeared on the April 8, 2017 red carpet in New York City, and they addressed their beef in separate interviews with ET. Johnson said the disagreement had simply been due to them having "different fundamental philosophies on how you do things." Diesel, in turn, re-emphasized his previous "Uncle Dwayne" remark.

In a different universe, that might have been the end of it –- two stars of mammoth proportions and striking physical similarity admitting their inherent differences, celebrating what they still managed to make together, and quietly going their separate ways. But just like how the "Fast and Furious" franchise refuses to stop pumping out bombastic films, the feud between Diesel and The Rock just wouldn't go away. It wasn't long before the battle heated up again, this time with a third voice entering into the arena.

Two days after Tyrese made his post, Diesel took to Instagram with an even longer statement. "I know there has been a lot of speculation as to why the Fast 9 release date was pushed," he wrote after a lengthy and fond remembrance of casting The Rock as Hobbs. "However, like any vehicle that has run around the globe 8 times, the franchise is in need of maintenance." As a lead producer on the franchise, it makes sense that Diesel would want "Hobbs & Shaw" to find success, and his post seemed to show full support for Johnson's spinoff endeavor.

The tone of Diesel's post fell squarely in line with his past commentary on the feud –- generally supportive and diplomatic, but quietly reasserting that he, not Johnson, was the one who started the series and the one who decided The Rock should be cast. For a while, things seemed to be at peace once again.

After the release of "Hobbs and Shaw," The Rock took to his Instagram page to share an especially sweaty celebration video. Shot in what appears to be his gym, Johnson thanked the cast, crew, and fans for making the spinoff film a success and declared how proud he was to be a part of the "Fast and Furious" franchise. Later in the video, he made a cryptic claim that "Of course, all roads lead to one thing," followed by an in-character delivery of the line "I'll be seeing you soon, Toretto" and a cheeky wink.

Johnson didn't appear at all in "F9: The Fast Saga," which he claimed was due to scheduling conflicts with "Hobbs & Shaw" (Statham also only appeared in a brief post-credits scene). However, any fans watching the actor's video would immediately read his shout-out to Diesel's character as confirmation that Hobbs would return in "Fast and Furious 10." There was no official announcement of any kind, but the implication seemed clear. Unfortunately, it turned out to be less than the truth.

"I laughed and I laughed hard." 

That's what the Rock had to say about Diesel's "tough love" comments in a July 21, 2021 piece from The Hollywood Reporter. "I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I'll leave it at that." Sadly for fans, Johnson also revealed in that same interview that he has no plans of returning to the franchise for "Fast and Furious 10" or "Fast and Furious 11." "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," The Rock said.

After "F9: The Fast Saga" came and went without even a mention of Hobbs, many fans assumed that they'd seen the last of Johnson in the franchise. That being said, it was still unfortunate to hear the man who'd once sounded excited to return say in no uncertain terms that his time with the series was finished. However, that might not actually be the end of Hobbs — if Diesel has anything to say about it.

As of yet, Johnson himself hasn't responded to Diesel's request for him to return. However, his longtime business partner Hiram Garcia has spoken publicly (if cryptically) about the matter. In an interview with Screen Rant published on November 14, 2021, Garcia said he hadn't had much chance to speak with The Rock about the idea. "Look, DJ's the biggest movie star in the world," Garcia said after acknowledging that anything can happen in the world of Hollywood. "No one's below trying all attempts and approaches to try and get him on board. So I appreciate it. You got to take your shot. You never know."

Though a bit backhanded and condescending in tone, Garcia isn't wrong at all in his assessment of the situation. "Fast and Furious" was certainly a huge launching platform for Johnson's international stardom, but since then he's arguably become a bigger name than anyone currently affiliated with the franchise. Per Forbes, The Rock was the highest-paid actor in the world in both 2019 and 2020. Getting him back on board with Diesel and the rest of the "Fast and Furious" crew could be a complicated process, and that's assuming he even wants to come back at all. Still, there's hope that fans could see Dom and Hobbs side by side once again sometime down the line.

After all, "Fast and Furious" is still a story about family.

Almost two years later, the unthinkable seems to happen — Johnson makes a cameo appearance in a post-credits scene for the tenth film in the franchise, "Fast X." It marked the first time fans had seen him appear in the franchise since 2019 spin-off, "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw," and the first time he had starred alongside Diesel since the 2017 sequel, "The Fate of the Furious." Though the scene doesn't give away too many details surrounding Hobbs' character or involvement, the move does suggest that Johnson and Diesel are inching closer to some kind of truce.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, "Fast X" director, Louis Leterrier, claims to have had a direct effect on how things went down. "The peace treaty ... I kind of [brokered it]. We all did. Ultimately, the movie did," he said. "We reached out to Dwayne and his team, and said, 'Just come and watch the movie. You have to love the movie first.' So he came to see the movie and really loved it, and then we started talking. It was very smooth, and frankly, as a fan, I could not conceive continuing the franchise without either Dwayne." With Leterrier now firmly in the "Fast and Furious" picture, successfully acting as a deal broker means the franchise is on its way back to full formation.

After a long silence on his "Fast X" cameo, Johnson finally broke his silence with a Twitter post on June 1, 2023. In his four-minute video post, he issued confirmation that the beef between him and Diesel was a done deal once and for all. "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 in an accompanying caption. "I've built my career on an "Audience First" mentality and that will always serve as my North Star."

It seems as though Johnson is genuinely as thrilled to be back in the "Fast and Furious" franchise as much as Diesel is — although he possibly has more reason to be. Since his departure from the films back in 2021, fans have speculated whether part of the reason he moved on was due to his hopes for success for the DC film, "Black Adam." Unfortunately, the film was a flop, losing a hefty fee at the box office while meeting mostly negative reviews from audiences and critics. Coming back to what he knows best is a great way of ensuring Johnson's legacy stays intact, bouncing back on a high rather than pouring more energy into something that's not working.