Furious stars mum about rumoured spat between Diesel and Johnson

NEW YORK — The Fast and the

Furious franchise has seen its share of drama outside of the films, but rumoured infighting between the series’ biggest stars, Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is uncharted territory for the longrunning series.

The riff was put into the spotlight last year when Johnson, while shooting The Fate of the Furious, took to Instagram to both express appreciation for his female co-stars and embarrass some of his male counterparts for unprofessional behaviour, calling them “candy asses.” It’s alleged he was referring to Diesel.

But, at the film’s world premiere last weekend in New York, many attributed the situation between the two stars as nothing more than “business as usual” on a film set.

Johnson and Diesel were not seen togetherduringpromotionalappearances, nor did they pose together on the red carpet. Johnson walked the carpet at the beginning of the premiere, while Diesel arrived later.

Michelle Rodriguez, who plays Letty in the series, equated it to a family squabble.

“If you know a family that never fights, then I think ... you just met a Stepford family, and that family is (expletive),” Rodriguez said. “It’s not real.”

Kurt Russell, who is back as Mr. Nobody, didn’t notice any bad blood on the set. But he also said conflict is not an unusual thing on movie sets in general.

Director F. Gary Gray thinks the situation was overblown in the media.

Off-screen intrigue isn’t expected to hamper box office results, however. The latest instalment in the $3.9 billion franchise is expected to earn over $110 million when it speeds into theatres on Friday.