New York Post

CLASH OF THE BEEFCAKES

The ‘Furious’ feud between The Rock and ‘candy ass’ co-star Vin Diesel

- By MERLE GINSBERG

WHEN the cast of “The Fate of the Furious” — the eighth film in the “Fast and the Furious” franchise — hit CinemaCon to preview footage for theater owners in Las Vegas on March 29, it was like a star-studded family reunion.

Longtime lead Vin Diesel gave a moving tribute to late actor Paul Walker and laughed it up with co-stars Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell and Tyrese Gibson.

But there was one member of the family sel in the last four “Furious” movies. Sources told The Post that’s because Johnson and Diesel can’t stand to be in the same place at the same time anymore after simmering tensions came to a head on the set of “The Fate of the Furious.” In fact, Johnson was at the same place just the day before, promoting buzzy blockbuste­rs “Baywatch” and “Jumanji” to the CinemaCon crowd. Twelve hours later, he was on the Miami set of his HBO show, “Ballers.”

But a Hollywood insider told The Post that it wasn’t TV work that kept Johnson, 44, from attending the “Furious” dog-and-pony show.

“I’ve been with this crew a lot,” said the Hollywood insider. “Vin decides who shows up [for promotiona­l events]; he always has.”

INDEED, the franchise is Diesel’s baby. He’s been a producer on the movies, wwhich launched him as an action star and have co collective­ly t iv el yearned a whopping $3.9 billion glob globally, since 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious.” So when Johnson lashed out at Diesel, 49, near the end of filming for “Fate,” there were bound to be repercussi­ons. On Aug. 8, 2016, Johnson posted a scathing — but blind — Facebook attack on one or more unnamed male co-stars. “My female co-stars are always amazing, aand I love ’em. My male co-stars however are a different story,” he wrote. “Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true profession­als, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken s--t to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses.” Furthermor­e, he wrote, “when you watch this movie next April, and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling — you’re right.” According to TMZ, Johnson was boiling mad at Diesel repeatedly how ingu upon set late and refusing to start the day before 10 a.m. Insiders reveal that the turmoil had been a long time coming. “Dwayne finally lost patience after [multiple] films when Vin showed up late for their final [shared] scene on ‘Fate,’ ” said

 ??  ?? FLEXING MUSCLE: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is said to have finally lost his patience when his “The Fate of the Furious” costar Vin Diesel showed up late to set one too many times.
FLEXING MUSCLE: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is said to have finally lost his patience when his “The Fate of the Furious” costar Vin Diesel showed up late to set one too many times.

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