Dwayne Johnson defends Fast & Furious spinoff amid costar backlash

Derek Lawrence
Updated
Fast & Furious: Dwayne Johnson defends spinoff amid costar backlash

Dwayne Johnson has one rule for his upcoming Fast & Furious spinoff: No candy asses allowed.

The past few weeks have been full of drama in the Fast family over Johnson and Jason Statham’s now-official spinoff, which prompted Fast 9 to be delayed a year. Tyrese Gibson has gone on multiple Instagram rants against Johnson, calling his costar a “clown,”; Vin Diesel recently attempted to play peacekeeper; and Johnson has been silent about the project and controversy — until now.

With his fellow Fate of the Furious alum already onboard, Johnson, who joined the franchise in Fast Five, seems to be openly recruiting some of his other costars to jump on his ship, and newcomers too. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for this franchise that I’ve enjoyed droppin’ blood and sweat in over the years and my vision is to create greater opportunities for not only my fellow FF cast mates, but for other amazing actors as well who want to be a part of something new and cool,” he continued. “I want to use my spinoff platform to create new characters that fans will ultimately love to have fun with in multiple chapters and platforms. Film, TV, Digital, Virtual Reality etc.. the more opportunities we can create the better for the fans. Smart business.”

After taking the high road for most of the post, Johnson concluded by possibly taking shots at both Gibson and Diesel, making reference to the moment that officially took the Fast drama public: when he called some unnamed male costars “candy asses” upon the conclusion of filming Fate last year. He signed off, “Let’s have some FUN and to quote, Hobbs the boss, if you don’t like it, we’re happy to beat that ass like a Cherokee drum. #HOBBS #SevenBucksProds #NewOpportunities #CandyAssesNeedNotApply JULY 2019.”

Daddy’s gotta go back to work ~ Hobbs. Pumped to expand and build out the FAST & FURIOUS universe in a cool, exciting way with our @sevenbucksprod, writer/producer Chris Morgan, producer Hiram Garcia and lead producer and my bigger twin, Neil Moritz. Thank you UNIVERSAL STUDIOS for being tremendous partners who see the big picture and for coming to us years ago with this spinoff idea. Huge shout to my brother, Jason Statham for the trust and wanting to create and deliver something fresh and bad ass for the fans. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this franchise that I’ve enjoyed droppin’ blood and sweat in over the years and my vision is to create greater opportunities for not only my fellow FF cast mates, but for other amazing actors as well who want to be a part of something new and cool. I want to use my spinoff platform to create new characters that fans will ultimately love to have fun with in multiple chapters and platforms. Film, TV, Digital, Virtual Reality etc.. the more opportunities we can create the better for the fans. Smart business. Let’s have some FUN and to quote, Hobbs the boss, if you don’t like it, we’re happy to beat that ass like a Cherokee drum. #HOBBS #SevenBucksProds #NewOpportunities #CandyAssesNeedNotApply JULY 2019

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Oct 9, 2017 at 9:41am PDT

Rumors had been swirling about Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Statham’s Deckard Shaw getting their own film ever since their scene-stealing chemistry in April’s eighth installment of the mega-franchise. Talk heated up last month when Gibson began using Instagram to beg Johnson not to let a proposed spinoff affect Fast 9. Then, following last week’s official announcement of the Hobbs and Shaw project and the Fast 9 delay, a further angered Gibson scolded Johnson for making the franchise “all about YOU” and later called him a “clown.” Over the weekend, Diesel chimed in, saying “it would be unfair to say it is anyone’s fault.”

The Fast spinoff is scheduled to arrive July 26, 2019, followed by Fast 9 on April 10, 2020.