An Open Letter to Vin Diesel and The Rock: The Do's and Don'ts of a Celebrity Social Media Feud
Boys will be boys — or in this case, men will be social media-obsessed, feuding children intent on having in the final word (charming). The men in question are none other than Fast and Furious co-stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Vin Diesel. On Monday, Johnson posted a video on Instagram showing himself body-slamming an opponent into a wall, with an accompanying message that skewered some of the other actors in the blockbuster franchise.
“Some conduct themselves as standup men and true professionals, while others don’t.” (It appears that he was talking about Vin Diesel, FYI.) Johnson continued, “The ones that don’t are too chickens*** to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses. When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I’m not acting in some of the scenes and my blood is legit boiling — you’re right.”
It took about two days for Johnson to decide it was time to backtrack (or for the powers that be to force his hand). Either way, he clarified his earlier comments, comparing the franchise’s cast to a “family” and noting that “there’s gonna be conflict.” But he also argued that “conflict can be a good thing, when it’s followed by a great resolution.”
It was unclear what that “great resolution” was, however, because yesterday Vin Diesel shared his own Instagram video, seemingly aimed at The Rock. Though the message began on an upbeat note, gushing about his daughter learning the word “happy,” it ended with a cryptic promise. “I will tell you everything. Everything,” he said. Umm. OK.
A video posted by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on Aug 10, 2016 at 10:27pm PDT
We couldn’t help but notice that these two alpha males had started coming across like mean-girl stereotypes — and since they’ve decided to go down that road, we’ve decided to provide them with some do’s and don’ts from the celebs who’ve turned social media feuds into an art form. (We use that term loosely.)
DO come with receipts: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West taught us this gem during their feud with Taylor Swift. In a nutshell, if you make an accusation, make sure you have some evidence to back it up. You may recall last month when Kanye and Swifty got into a public spat over whether or not she “approved” the now infamous line in his song “Famous,” which delightfully speculated, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous.”
Kim came to her man’s defense, posting a series of videos of Kanye speaking on the phone to Taylor, who verbally signs off on the first line of the two. (Swift said that was a technicality because she hadn’t heard the second line, which she found offensive.) So, Vin Diesel, when you tell the world “everything,” make sure you have some proof of what you’re saying.
DON’T come off as too bothered: Taylor Swift may have stumbled after Kim posted that aforementioned video, but she has still learned how to be seen out having fun better than anyone (just ask Tom Hiddleston). While the Kimye feud was brewing, Taylor was busy throwing epic 4th of July parties and cavorting around Europe with her new beau, Tom Hiddleston.
While her Instagram posts with the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively weren’t quite enough to prevent Kim’s attack from gaining traction, the pics did provide the world with a reasonably effective distraction. #Hiddleswift. Enough said. (Instead of posting cryptic videos on Instagram, maybe Vin Diesel should organize a Labor Day fete. Just saying.)
DO know when to smile and walk away: Surprisingly, Rihanna serves as the poster child for this life lesson. But when the singer got into a Twitter feud with Ciara after Ciara dissed her during an appearance on The Fashion Police, RiRi struck back … and then let it go. This was back in 2011, so if you don’t remember it, don’t be too hard on yourself. Ciara said that she’d run into Rihanna at a party and “she wasn’t the nicest.” Rihanna then tweeted, “My bad, Ci, did I forget to tip you #howrudeofme.”
My bad ci, did I 4get to tip u? #howrudeofme
— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 26, 2011
They exchanged a few more blows until Rihanna decided enough was enough. “Ciara baby, I love you girl! You hurt my feelings real bad on TV! I’m heartbroken! That’s why I retaliated this way! So sorry!” Ciara accepted the apology and the (social media) world made sense again. To his credit, Johnson seems to have done this, at least a little bit, with his second Instagram post, but it didn’t seem that Vin Diesel was ready to put it behind him just yet.
DON’T be afraid to drag their friends into it: We can thank Amber Rose for this one. The takeaway here is that if someone calls you a name on social media and someone else in that person’s close circle is vulnerable to attack, drag them into it too and up the ante. Case in point: When Khloe Kardashian called Amber Rose a stripper, Amber retaliated by calling Khloe’s sister Kim a whore. “@khloekardashian I’ll be that lil whore to support my family like ur older sister is a whore 2 support hers. We’re even,” she declared. It’s unclear whether any of The Rock’s own compatriots could themselves be considered “candy asses,” but Vin Diesel might want to start checking that out.
And last but certainly not least, when all else fails, DO exchange profanity for insults your grandfather would use … just ask Nicki Minaj. After the rapper blasted Farrah Abraham for being “a c*** to her mother, the Teen Mom star clapped back writing, “‘Cause your [sic] a parent, right? Your videos look like porn. Horrible good luck being negative #Godbless busy making TV.” After a handful of more delightful four-letter-filled exchanges, Minaj shut it down with the following tweet: “learn the difference between ‘you’re’ & ‘your’, dingbat.” Now both The Rock and Vin Diesel run the risk of coming off like dingbats in this mess, so there’s that.
Instead of dragging your mother, learn the difference between "you're" & "your", ding bat
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) January 10, 2016