Dwayne Johnson Turns Down Vin Diesel’s ‘Manipulation’ Plea To Return To ‘Fast & Furious’

Dwayne Johnson confirmed he had no intention of returning to the Fast & Furious series in an interview with CNN published yesterday, and criticized his former co-star Vin Diesel’s public statement imploring Johnson to return for the franchise’s finale.

Johnson and Diesel first butt heads in public in 2016 after Johnson wrote an Instagram post questioning Diesel’s professionalism, adding, “When you watch this movie and its seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling –– you’re right.”

The two stars have feuded ever since, and Diesel’s November statement, also via Instagram, came with an apparent attempt at rapprochement which still rang as primarily competitive.

Diesel’s caption accompanied a screenshot of their Fast characters facing each other. “My little brother Dwyane… the time has come. The world awaits the finale of Fast 10,” Diesel began the post and later added that, “I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo.” Pablo is Diesel’s nickname for Paul Walker, an actor who appeared in the first 6 Fast & Furious movies before his widely-mourned 2013 death.

Johnson said that he informed Diesel directly that he would not return to the franchise this past June, and he was “surprised” by the release of the post. “Vin’s recent post was an example of his manipulation,” Johnson later elaborated, “I didn’t like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker’s death. Leave them out of it.”

Despite his reticence in returning to the franchise, Johnson wished his former co-stars and crew involved in the next installment of Fast and Furious “the best of luck and success in the next chapter.”