- The Fast & The Furious franchise has produced some jaw-dropping action scenes and intense drama between the cast.
- Dwayne’ The Rock’ Johnson feuded with Vin Diesel in 2016, stemming from issues filming The Fate of the Furious.
- The issues between these “brothers” were seemingly resolved in 2023 with Fast X.
When does Fast & Furious get too furious? The high-octane franchise leaves pulses racing, hearts thudding, and knuckles clenched tight – and that’s just what happens behind the camera. Since 2001, audiences have loved watching the “family” — Dom, Letty, Roman, and more — pull off some unbelievable stunts. However, there has been plenty of “family” drama once the cameras stopped rolling. From Vin versus the producers of the first sequel to Tyrese Gibson’s vocal fight against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Vin Diesel also beefing with the former WWE Superstar, the series has had its share of bad blood.
But, with the franchise coming to a close, it seems everyone is making amends to see The Fast & The Furious off. The closing moment of Fast X sets up the return of a character who wasn’t in the film to that point, hinting that everyone in the Fast franchise will get a chance to confront the new villain played by Jason Momoa.
Ahead of this teased return in the following two films (Vin suggested that Fast X will lead to Fast XX and Fast XXX), here’s what you need to know about the drama between the Fast cast.
Vin Diesel Vs. ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’
The first major Furious feud came between Vin Diesel and the writers of the first sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious. “They didn’t take a Francis Ford Coppola approach to it,” he told Variety in 2015. “They approached it like they did sequels in the ’80s and ’90s when they would drum up a new story unrelated for the most part and slap the same name on it.” He turned down $25 million to appear in the sequel, proving that Vin was never in it for the money. He would make a cameo in the third movie, 2006’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, before returning fully to the franchise in 2009’s Fast & Furious (on the condition that he would also serve as the film’s producer.) From there, everything seemed to go smoothly until the filming of the eighth film, The Fate of the Furious.
Vin Diesel Vs. The Rock
The Rock, whose Agent Luke Hobbs joined the cast in 2011’s Fast 5, posted a bombshell Instagram message on Aug. 8, 2016. The picture shows him (or his character) fighting on The Fate Of The Furious set. In the caption, he called out his “male co-stars,” saying that “some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken sh*t to do anything about it anyway. Candy a**es.” Many thought The Rock was calling out Vin in this vague post, and reports said the two had a secret meeting to patch things up afterward. Two days after his first Instagram post, according to Vanity Fair, The Rock posts a second one, saying that “family is gonna have differences of opinion and fundamental core beliefs.”
On Aug. 11, 2016, Vin finally weighed in on the rumored beef by posting a sleepy video of himself promising to “tell you everything. Everything.” He doesn’t follow through, and fans are left hanging. Michelle Rodriguez confirmed the feud in Sep. 2016. “Any human being who knows what men are like knows to stay out [of those] situations and let them figure it out,” she told PEOPLE. “They’re ‘bros,’ man. They’re friends, and ultimately even friends reach a point where they have to set aside their differences to make a movie for multi-cultural people around the world, and that is the bigger scheme of things.”
After that? Months of silence. While doing press for The Fate Of The Furious in April 2017, Vin seemed to bury the hatchet. “In my house, he’s ‘Uncle Dwayne,’ and I’m proud of that,” he said. The Rock also indicated that the bad blood was over, chalking the beef to “different philosophies.” However, In an April 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, The Rock hinted that he’s “not sure” he’ll be back for Fast & Furious 9. In January 2019, he confirmed he wouldn’t appear in F9.
The Rock touched upon the 2016 Instagram post in an October 2021 interview with Vanity Fair. “I thought that that was the best thing to do. For everybody.” The Rock added that it wasn’t “his best day” when he posted those comments because he aired the dirty laundry. “I meant what I said. For sure. I mean what I say when I say it. But to express it publicly was not the right thing to do.” Eventually, The Rock and Vin hashed out their differences – “I wouldn’t call it a peaceful meeting. I would call it a meeting of clarity,” he said – where they realized they are “two separate ends of the spectrum” and agreed “to leave it there.” Since then, the two seemed to reach a point of peace.
Then, Vin posted a message to The Rock in early November 2021. My little brother Dwayne… the time has come,” he wrote. “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.”
Unfortunately, The Rock made it clear that he wasn’t interested in returning to the series even though he was “surprised” by Vin’s message in a December 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 said.
Besides saying that he had no interest in making a return, Dwayne said that Vin’s mentions of his kids and Paul Walker’s death rubbed him the wrong way.
“Leave them out of it. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that this public dialogue has muddied the waters. Regardless, I’m confident in the Fast universe and its ability to consistently deliver for the audience, and I truly wish my former co-stars and crew members the best of luck and success in the next chapter.”
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
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 1, 2023
However, with the series beginning its final lap in 2023 and Black Adam failing to launch its own franchise in 2022, The Rock returned to the Fast & Furious films. The Wrap first reported his return, setting up an appearance in the series’ final installments.
Most recently, on Jun. 1, 2023, Dwayne took to Twitter to confirm that he and Vin had settled their feud amid the news he is returning to the franchise. “Hope you’ve got your funderwear on… HOBBS IS BACK. And he just got lei’d,” Dwayne wrote. “Luke Hobbs will be returning to the Fast & Furious franchise.” He continued, “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.”
The Rock Vs. Tyrese Gibson
During the early days of The Rock versus Vin, Tyrese Gibson tried to play peacemaker by downplaying the reported beef. Yet, Tyrese would begin to feud with The Rock in September 2017. Replying to a photo of The Rock reviewing a movie contract, presumably for the Agent Hobbs spin-off, Tyrese issued a warning, according to Digital Spy. “If you move forward with that #Hobbs Movie you will have purposely ignored the heart-to-heart moment we had in my sprinter,” he warned The Rock, per Digital Spy. “I don’t wanna hear from you until you remember what we talked about. I’m on your timeline cause you’re not responding to my texts messages. #FastFamily is just that a family……We don’t fly solo.”
Tyrese would later clarify that he didn’t completely object to The Rock shooting his spin-off but was upset how filming Hobbs & Shaw would push back the ninth Fast & Furious installment’s filming.
In October 2017, Tyrese posted a throwback shot of the Furious cast (before The Rock.) “Diversity, love, multi ethnic worldwide multi generational, United Nations, One Race, Fast Family …. Until Dewayne showed up I guess this whole time he had a problem cause he wasn’t the ONLY ONE on the movie poster. “congratulations to @hhgarcia41 and @therock you guys are just amazing you really broke up the #FastFamily.” Tyrese would continue to fire shots after the F9 release date was revealed to be April 2020.
This “feud” was strictly one-sided. Despite Tyreese’s numerous messages, The Rock never directly addressed him during the fight. Even after Tyrese threatened to quit the franchise, The Rock stayed quiet. Dwayne finally spoke about it during a July 2018 episode of Watch What Happens Live. “That whole thing with Tyrese, it was pretty disappointing because I’ve been friends with Tyrese for a very long time. And, you know, I always feel like a beef requires two people to actually jump in it, and it was really one-sided, and he had voiced his opinion a lot on social media.” The Rock said that he hadn’t spoken to his co-star since the “feud,” and that “there’s no need to have a conversation.”
In 2019, Hobbs & Shaw earned $180 million its first weekend. It was the lowest-performing Fast & Furious performing film since 2006’s Tokyo Drift. Tyrese seemingly took delight in this. “I have to show my respects for one thing…he tried,” he wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post. “Folks called me a hater… And attacked me for speaking out… Breaking up the family clearly doesn’t have the value that one would assume it does…” The film ultimately made over $759 million at the worldwide box office, according to Box Office Mojo. F9, the COVID-delayed ninth movie, took in more than Hobbs & Shaw but ultimately pulled in $721 million worldwide.
Tyrese has made it clear that the feud is long behind them in a June 2021 interview with Tiffany Haddish on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “We’ve been on the phone every other day. We reconnected in a real way. I think we’re both better men on the other side of all that stuff that went down,” he said.
Michelle Rodriguez Vs. Vin Diesel?
There was another feud that came out of Fate of the Furious. Michelle Rodriguez, whose Letty Ortiz has appeared in four of the eight movies, said in June 2017 that she was thinking of quitting. “I hope they decide to show some love to the women of the franchise on the next one. Or I just might have to say goodbye to a loved franchise.” Since Fast & Furious is Vin’s baby, was Michelle taking a shot at him? Nope. Vin and Michelle appeared together in a June 2017 Instagram video that squashed any rumors of a feud. After saying he was “the biggest supporter of strong women,” Michelle said, “I’ve always appreciated that about you throughout the years. And just know if I ever post anything, that’s not you [that] I’m talking to.”