‘Shattered his precious ego’: Vin Diesel feels the heat after The Rock burns up box office with 'Black Adam'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hollywood hunks Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have long nursed grudges against each other since at least 2016. But now their feud has progressed to the stage where Johnson’s success is shattering Diesel’s precious ego, Radar Online reported.
The 55-year-old actor — born Mark Sinclair – is reportedly green with envy after his former 'Fast & Furious' costar tasted record-breaking box office success with the action-flick 'Black Adam,' a source told Radar Online. Warner Bros. and DC Films’ superhero blockbuster has garnered more than $366 million worldwide, according to Collider.
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“Vin tries so hard to be the man that other men want to be and women want to be with, but he’ll always be in The Rock’s shadow,” a source close to Diesel told the outlet. “His ego is extremely fragile and he can’t shake the feeling that Dwayne’s the better man.” The insider added that Diesel has been groveling to A-listers, spurred on by his ruthless desire to defeat The Rock. “The sad thing is this feud isn’t about two guys, it’s mostly a one-sided thing and it’s all on Vin, who’s become obsessed with Dwayne,” spilled the source.
Hollywood has long been aware of the long-simmering tension between the two 'Fast and Furious' franchise stars. Dwayne Johnson They haven't appeared together in the main F&F film since 2017’s 'The Fate of the Furious.' The acrimony between the two action stars first became public in 2016 when The Rock went off on social media and called out Diesel for being too “chicken s---” to confront him about issues. No names were mentioned in that social media post, but the source claimed it was an indirect strike at Diesel. Another source claimed that The Rock had problems with Diesel making decisions on set as an executive producer.
A year later, Diesel attempted to hush the tension and reassured audiences that the duo still loved each other like good pals and that Johnson was still "Uncle Dwayne" in his household. "It’s not always easy being an alpha. And it’s two alphas," Diesel told USA Today. The two then continued their efforts to smooth out their tensions and even attended 'The Fate of the Furious' premiere together.
But last year, ‘The Jumanji' star reignited the feud by calling Diesel “manipulative” on social media. At that time, Diesel extended an olive branch to Johnson and asked him to return for F10. "My little brother Dwayne... the time has come. The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don't send well wishes... but the time has come. Legacy awaits. I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo. I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10!” Diesel said in his post.
But Johnson was not very happy with Diesel’s attempt to sway him from his decision to part ways with the franchise. He revealed that he had spoken privately with Diesel "months ago" about his desire to not return and Diesel's public post was a manipulative move on his part. While speaking with CNN, The Rock said, “I told (Diesel) directly that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return.”
He added, “Vin’s recent public post was an example of his manipulation. 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. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding.” The two are yet to solve their tiff after that.