The "Fast Family" is falling apart. Photo / Getty Images
Actor Tyrese Gibson has launched an extraordinary spray against his Fast & Furious franchise co-star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, accusing him of 'breaking up' the 'Fast Family'.
The feud has been simmering since reports surfaced that Johnson had signed on for a spin-off film as his Fast & Furious character Luke Hobbs. Since then, Gibson has vented his anger in frequent emotional Instagram posts.
"If you move forward with that Hobbs Movie you will have purposely ignored the heart to heart moment we had in my sprinter ... I'm on your timeline cause you're not responding to my text messages - #FastFamily is just that, a family....... We don't fly solo," he wrote in a since-deleted post in September.
Now, Gibson has gone a step further, slamming Johnson and his producing partner Hiram Garcia for moving forward with the spin-off film.
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"Congratulations to @TheRock and your brother in law aka 7 bucks producing partner @hhgarcia41 for making the fast and the furious franchise about YOU," he wrote, promising that this time he would not delete his outburst, even if "they" ordered him to.
It seems Gibson's main gripe is that the planned spin-off would push the release date for the next full cast Fast & Furious instalment to 2020.
"Folks see you in 2020 April #FastFamily right? Nah..... it's about #TeamDewayne #3yrs will it be worth the wait? #NoShaw just Hobbs will this be another BayWatch? Guys guys just relax I'm just a passionate film critic."
In a follow-up post, Gibson shared a Fast & Furious cast photo from before Johnson entered the franchise in film five - the glory days, as he sees it.
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"Diversity, love, multi ethnic worldwide multi generational, United Nations, One Race, Fast Family...... Until Dewayne showed up. I guess this whole time he had a problem cause he wasn't the ONLY ONE on the movie poster," he wrote.
"I guess dreams do come true congratulations to @hhgarcia41 and @therock you guys are just amazing you really broke up the #FastFamily I tried to warn you guys ... You thought I was hating...... I was simply fighting to keep the family together what makes us great is when you see us all TOGETHER we don't fly solo," he continued.
"I got 3 years of venting on this clown - They offered but YOU didn't have to agree with a solo #HobbsMovie."
This Tyrese / The Rock beef follows on from the much-publicised public feud between Johnson and fellow co-star Vin Diesel.
Insiders claimed that the feud was a result of a clashing of egos over who was the actual star of the movie, with Johnson concerned that Diesel had top billing because he was listed first on the call sheet.
In August 2016, Johnson went public, posting a thinly-veiled attack on (where else) Instagram: "My female co-stars are always amazing, and 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 ... 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."
