‘Fast 8’ stars Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson post dueling Instagram posts
When last we left the set of “Fast 8,” rumors were flying about a surreptitious meeting between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel.
There’s no official information about what was or wasn’t said between the two during the tête-à-tête that theoretically took place in order to alleviate tensions between the two that came to a head during the final week of filming the latest entry into the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, “Fast 8.”
But once the dust cleared, both well-known, well-muscled men took to their Instagram accounts to send out inscrutable messages. Let’s try to interpret them.
Up first: The Rock.
It was Johnson’s social media accounts that kicked off all of this controversy on Monday when he posted negative remarks about some of his male co-workers — whom he chose not to name — spawning plenty of theorizing before sources purportedly determined that the male co-worker in question was actually Diesel.
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Wednesday afternoon, Johnson posted a new video to his Instagram feed, along with a message expressing his gratitude to the stunt team and writing a bit about the importance of teamwork.
“You guys reading this know how much I believe in the idea of TEAM EFFORT. That means respecting every person, their time and their value when they step on to my set or partner with our production company. And like with any team — that's a family — there's gonna be conflict,” Johnson wrote.
The professional wrestler-turned-actor added that family will have differences of opinion but that conflict can be a good thing, particularly when followed by resolution.
“At the end of the day me and #F8 co-stars all agree on the most important thing: Delivering an incredible movie to the world,” Johnson said to conclude his post.
Meanwhile, Diesel posted to his Instagram account Wednesday night after wrapping on “Fast 8” and returning home for the first time since, in his words, “literally Christmas.” (Diesel filmed “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” earlier in 2016.)
Diesel’s video focused primarily on learning that his 16-month-old daughter, Pauline, named after late “Fast and the Furious” co-star Paul Walker, had learned a new word in his absence. That word? Happy.
“Her new word kind of describes my spirit and my soul, and most people who stay positive,” Diesel said in the video.
“When I heard her say, ‘Happy,’ I just lit up in ways I can’t even describe,” the actor went on to say before the video took a bit of a turn.
“Give me a second,” Diesel said to his fans, “and I will tell you everything.
“Everything,” he repeated.
Accompanied by a message reading, “So much has gone on this year. I can’t believe I wrapped two back to back pictures I both starred in and produced. Now I get to return to my family, my life... To me,” Diesel’s video seems to contain a lot of emotion, including exhaustion and, yes, happiness. But also foreboding.
What exactly is he going to tell us everything about? The issues between the Rock and him? “Fast 8” in general?
At this juncture, the stream of information about this supposed feud is making things seem awfully suspicious, like, Taylor Swift/Tom Hiddleston levels of suspicious.
Representatives for Johnson declined to comment on the matter, and a representative for Diesel did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
“Fast 8” is slated for an April 14 release.
Twitter: @midwestspitfire
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