Vin Diesel gave a shout-out to his Fast & Furious co-star Dwayne Johnson at the 82nd Golden Globes award, which came as a shocking moment of the night. The 57-year-old was on stage to present the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for their work in Wicked when the surprising incident happened.
Diesel, while presenting the award stopped midway and looked at his former co-star before speaking, and said, “Hey, Dwayne.” The camera immediately cut to Johnson, who was sitting in the front row with an awkward smile. The audience, being well aware of the history between the two, was shocked as well.
The #GoldenGlobes are shifting into high gear as @vindiesel takes the stage to present the award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement! pic.twitter.com/Z1PLvCDdYC
— Golden Globes (@goldenglobes) January 6, 2025
For those unaware, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson had beef way back during the shooting of The Fate of the Furious in 2016. In August of that year, Johnson posted a now-deleted Instagram post where he congratulated his female co-stars while seemingly bashing a few of the male cast members.
His post read “My female co-stars are always amazing, and I love ’em,” he further wrote. “My male co-stars, however, are a different story”. Some act as stand-up men and real professionals, while others aren’t. The ones that aren’t are too chickens to do anything about it anyway.”
The Rock’s face when Vin Diesel said “HEY DWAYNE” 😁😮#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/gYAMCHkMHf
— Shay💋 (@sunshine0nme) January 6, 2025
Vin Diesel easily became the go-to suspect when fans thought through the situation. However, an inside source would tell PEOPLE shortly after that Diesel’s problems with Johnson had to do with the wrestler-turned-actor’s alleged tardy behavior and no-shows on set during production. “Vin has had issues with The Rock because he keeps showing up late for the production. In some cases he doesn’t arrive at all; he is halting the productions,” the source said.
Diesel shocked everyone by name-dropping Johnson during the 2025 Golden Globes. Even Johnson’s expression changed from an uneasy smile to a more serious look as he watched Diesel from the audience. The moment became one of the night’s most talked-about incidents. Fans loved this exchange and even shared memes and funny messages related to this awkward exchange. Some feel Vin Diesel tried to reignite their old rivalry while others said he seemed to poke fun at The Rock.
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Fans are always interested in the long history between these two stars. They have an interesting chemistry on-screen that was portrayed throughout the Fast & Furious movies. Off-screen, they are viewed with constant conflicts, though. While the actors have publicly downplayed the feud, moments like these remind everyone that some of those disagreements are not yet over.
After all, the Golden Globes’ banter said as much about the tension between Diesel and Johnson as it did about the long-standing allure of their pairing. It was a surprise layer of intrigue atop a glittering night.