‘Fast 8’ feud heats up as Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel reportedly face off

Given his origins in the world of professional wrestling, maybe it was only a matter of time before Dwayne Johnson, otherwise known as the Rock, made a heel turn.

For the uninitiated, a heel turn is when a supposed good guy becomes the bad guy in the blink of an eye, which may be precisely what happened on the set of “Fast 8” overnight.

Johnson made headlines earlier in the week after posting to his social media accounts complaining about some of his male co-stars on “Fast 8,” remarking, “Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t.”

The problem with Johnson’s statement wasn’t so much that he was publicly shaming individuals he still had a week of filming with (though that’s an issue in and of itself, according to TMZ) it’s that he was so vague about who he was attempting to shame.

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For his part, Tyrese Gibson was eager to relieve any suspicions that he was the individual Johnson was calling out in his post, writing his own missive on Instagram along with a video of his daughter singing with Johnson that since has been deleted.

“Why are you guys so impressionable? A man wouldn’t be singing from his heart and soul to another mans little angel if he had a problem with her dad,” Gibson said.

Gibson also said he had no idea with whom Johnson had a beef or what the beef was about, but that at heart, the infighting wasn’t what the “Fast and Furious” franchise was about.

“I’m personally not doing this for anyone but my brother Paul Walker,” Gibson continued. “This franchise is not about and has #Never been about anyone of us individually it’s about the #FASTFAMILY - the TRIBE.”

So who is Johnson mad at?

That’s still not completely clear, but a front-runner has emerged.

TMZ reported Tuesday afternoon that Johnson met with “Fast 8” star Vin Diesel in an attempt to clear the air after Johnson’s social media shade.

Diesel is allegedly the target of Johnson’s Instagram scorn, as the pair of bald, gentle giants reportedly disagreed during filming about certain artistic choices.

Beyond just providing the center of the “Fast” family, Diesel also serves as a producer on the film, meaning that he could be making decisions during filming about which Johnson disagreed. But as a producer and a cast member, Diesel also could theoretically be meeting with Johnson not because he’s the target of Johnson’s derision but in an attempt to smooth things over for the sake of the production.

Who knows at this point?

All that seems certain is that the Rock and Diesel are on opposite sides of something, and that’s sad no matter how you slice it.

libby.hill@latimes.com

Twitter: @midwestspitfire

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