Cena weighs in on Johnson and Diesel’s ‘Fast and Furious’ feud

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John Cena is sharing his thoughts on the feud between Fast & Furious co-stars Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel that led the former to quit the franchise amid ongoing tensions between the two.

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During an appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast (via PEOPLE), Cena was asked by host Dax Shepard about the rumours concerning Johnson and Diesel’s on-set feud between the two big men.

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“There’s certainly rumours about that. I can’t deny that,” Cena replied. “You have two very alpha, driven people. You get two, there can only be one.”

Cena joined the franchise with F9: The Fast Saga in 2021 as Jakob Toretto, the estranged brother of Diesel’s Dom.  He said he knows he’s “a guest” in the Fast films and he didn’t try to impose his own vision on his character.

“I’m not trying to get the sandbox. That’s not my thing. I’m grateful for what you’ve given me, I just want to be be the best firetruck I can,” he said. “I’m being invited into someone’s home, into someone’s family. …  this is one IP that has had nine instalments and it’s an action movie — that’s rarefied air,” Cena added. “At the very least, there has to be respect for that.”

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Cena credited his career as a wrestler with the WWE for helping him navigate an environment with an established hierarchy.

“Man, you gotta remember I got dropped into a locker room where (we have) generational vets,” Cena said. ” ‘What’d your dad do?’ ‘Wrestle.’ ‘What’d your granddad do?’ ‘Wrestle.’ I’ve been in that environment; know the room and just kind of adapt to what’s going on.”

Johnson and Diesel’s feud went viral in 2016 as they were in the midst of filming the series’ eighth chapter.

“There’s no other franchise that gets my blood boiling more than this one,” Johnson wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post. “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. The ones that don’t are too chicken s— to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses.”

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After appearing in five films within the Fast & Furious franchise, Johnson publicly announced he wouldn’t return for F9.

“Vin has a reputation for being difficult — he shows up late, keeps people waiting, holds up production and is disrespectful to people on the set,” a source told Page Six at the time. “Dwayne lost his patience with him.”

Diesel later intimated in an interview with Men’s Health that he had problems with Johnson’s acting, but said his criticism came from a place of “tough love.”

“I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing,” Diesel said.

But Johnson was unimpressed, telling The Hollywood Reporter in 2021 that he “laughed hard” at Diesel’s acting critique.

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The two eventually patched things up with Johnson returning as special agent Luke Hobbs in a post-credits scene from last summer’s Fast X. 

After appearing in a brief cameo, Johnson confirmed he’ll be back in a new film with a video on social media. “Hope you’ve got your funderwear on,” Johnson wrote. “HOBBS IS BACK.”