The Golden Globes producers confirm that the moment between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson was entirely unexpected.
On Sunday, Jan. 5, Diesel, 57, arrived on stage at the 2025 Golden Globes to present the award for film cinematic and box office achievement. But before he announced Wicked as the winner, he extended an olive branch to his former Fast and Furious costar, with whom he has alleged behind-the-scenes drama.
“Hi Dwayne …” Diesel said and smiled, glancing at the 52-year-old actor before presenting the award. The cameras cut to Johnson, who reacted with a smile.
The telecast’s executive producer, Glenn Weiss, told Variety that the unexpected interaction between the actors caused the producers’ concern.
“It kind of keeps you gripped, and even you in the press room, us in the truck, are going, ‘Wait, what? What’s happening?’ ” Weiss told Variety.
He continued: “At that point, there’s a live event taking place, and our job is to bring it to you and let you decipher it. What is the exchange going on between them? I think it’s really important to show what’s happening in the room.”
Diesel’s shoutout followed reports that he and Johnson didn’t get along, with rumors of an alleged feud beginning in 2016 after they completed The Fate of the Furious. At the time, they were rumored to have butted heads on more than one occasion while shooting the eighth installment of the film franchise.
That August, Johnson posted a now-deleted Instagram praising the film crew and his female costars but called out some unnamed male costars.
“There’s no other franchise that gets my blood boiling more than this one,” he wrote at the time. “My female costars are always amazing and I love ’em. My male costars, however, are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand-up men and true professionals, while others don’t.”
He added: “The ones that don’t are too chicken s— to do anything about it anyway. Candy a—-. 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.”
However, Diesel refuted the allegations and claimed the two were “close.”
“I think some things may be blown out of proportion. I don’t think that was his intention,” he said of Johnson’s statement. “I know he appreciates how much I work this franchise. In my house, he’s Uncle Dwayne.”
Johnson briefly departed the franchise in 2021. That October, he told Vanity Fair that he only agreed to appear in 2017’s The Fate of the Furious if he didn’t have to share any scenes with Diesel.
Two years later, Johnson announced his return, and the actors seemingly mended their relationship.
“Last summer Vin and I put all the past behind us,” Johnson wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) in June 2023. “We’ll lead with brotherhood and resolve — and always take care of the franchise, characters & FANS that we love.”
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Since the release of the 10th film, 2023’s Fast X, Diesel and Johnson are expected to return for the upcoming film Fast X: Part 2. The movie was originally slated for an April 2025 release but has been postponed until 2026, director Louis Leterrier previously told Collider.
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