Recently, Tyrese Gibson, singer, actor, and one of the stars of the Fast & Furious franchise took to Instagram to deliver on a post in which he criticized another franchise star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for making Fast & Furious all about him after the recent announcement of his own spinoff of the film series.
Since then, Vin Diesel, who portrays the honcho of the film’s fictional crew, also stepped up to touch on the drama following Tyrese’s comments in an effort to calm the storm that has since ensued.
"Brotherhood... and all it's complexities," Diesel began in a lengthy caption accompanied by a shot of a scene he shares with The Rock. "This scene was filmed in Puerto Rico, I can remember it like it was yesterday. Such a beautiful island, the people were so warm and welcoming. I turned 43 that summer... and my son Vincent was born. A woman named Jan Kelly responded to a question I had asked on Facebook, 'who they would like to see me work with?' She said would love to see me work with Dwayne... I listened to her request and he became Hobbs. I know there has been a lot of speculation as to why the Fast 9 release date was pushed... but it would be unfair to say it is anyone's fault.
Tyrese's frustration apparently finds its root in the fact that Johnson’s spin-off film will be put into production before the ninth F&F film, and has caused the release date to move to 2020, a year later than its original slated arrival.
"As we plot the course to expand the Fast & Furious universe, one must be mindful to take stock of the roads we took to get here," Vin continued. "The pillars of authenticity, family and most importantly, our loyal fan’s perspective has been instrumental in procuring success. However, like any vehicle that has run around the globe 8 times, the franchise is in need of maintenance. My good friend and the godfather of Universal, Ron Meyer has granted me the time to do just that. We have some very exciting news to share soon... stay tuned. Yours truly, Dom #FamilyAlways."