If there was ever a contest to determine the movie franchise that has claimed the mantle for most off-set drama, Fast and Furious is leaving everybody in the dust. Actually, there’s really no contest if you think about it. DC could make a run for it, but it still would fall short of all the happenings in the F&F universe. Remember the feud between Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that made global headlines last year? Well, that appears to be a thing of the past now because another bald-headed beefcake feud is heating up between Johnson and Tyrese Gibson.

For those who need a refresher, Gibson made news a month ago when he publicly called out Johnson, begging him to hold off on the Luke Hobbs spinoff project, at least until the completion of Fast 9. Apparently, neither Johnson nor Universal threw much chalk on Gibson’s pleading, announcing last week that Fast 9 would be pushed back to a 2020 release - it was initially scheduled for a 2019 release - in order to make room for the aforementioned spin-off that will star Johnson and fellow “Fast” alum Jason Statham. Predictably, Tyrese didn’t take too kindly to the schedule reshuffling, venting his frustrations on Instagram and directing most of it to the Rock. And, as fate would have it, another member of the so-called #FastFamily chimed in, except that he actually defended Johnson from all the vitriol Gibson was spewing. That man? None other than Diesel himself. So, Gibson is pissed at the Rock, who appears to not care, and Diesel is siding with his one-time nemesis. Really, we couldn't make all of this stuff up even if we wanted to.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

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I feel like I’m not painting a clear enough picture on the issues between Tyrese Gibson and Dwayne Johnson without quoting what both have said about the feud. To be fair, the Rock has been relatively quiet about it, but Gibson wasted little time spewing venom as soon as it was announced that Fast 9 would be released in 2020. Among other things, he called Johnson a “clown,” chastised him for accepting the Hobbs movie if he didn’t have to, and blamed him for “breaking up the #FastFamily.”

Basically, Gibson left very little to the imagination on the message behind his frustrations with Johnson. For his part, Johnson hasn’t directly replied to the strong words lobbied against him, but he did post a video of his own, hinting at the drama and saying that “real men work. Big dogs eat. Little crying puppies stay on the porch.” No need to translate who he was calling a crying puppy.

Here’s the kicker though: Vin Diesel, the guy who Johnson called out last year for being a “candy-ass,” actually defended him. In his own words, this is what Diesel wrote on his Instagram account addressing the issue.

“Brotherhood… and all its complexities … 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.”

“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. The pillars of authenticity, family and most importantly, our loyal fan’s perspective has been instrumental in procuring success,” Diesel added. “However, like any vehicle that has run around the globe eight 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.”

While we’re here, it is somewhat curious that Gibson didn’t trash Statham for “breaking up the family,” when he himself is starring opposite Johnson in the Hobbs spin-off that’s now scheduled for a 2019 release.

That’s as far as we know right now, but you can be sure that there’s going to be more messages written on social media to address this simmering feud. On the one hand, I think it’s hilarious that these men with big muscles and even bigger egos are bickering like little children on social media. On the other hand, I think it’s getting a little too old. All this drama is making the Fast 9 franchise a little too insufferable. Here’s to hoping all this drama dies down sooner than later.

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