The Fast and the Furious franchise continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. Just when you thought that the respective returns of Justin Lin and Jordana Brewster to the franchise would finally steer it to calmer waters, the storm known as Tyrese Gibson strikes again. Worse yet, he’s going for the jugular this time with the most ill-conceived ultimatum in the history of Hollywood. Apparently, Gibson’s (one-sided) beef with co-star Dwayne Johnson has reached a boiling point, and he’s making it known by threatening to quit the franchise if Johnson returns for Fast 9. Yeah, that just happened.

If you haven’t been caught up, Tyrese has been on a monumental tear on social media, alternating between criticizing and pleading with Johnson to table the latter’s F&F spin-off Hobbes just so Fast 9 wouldn’t get delayed. The pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears, so much so that Universal has actually pushed the release of Fast 9 to 2020 to make room for a 2019 release of the Hobbes spin-off starring Johnson and Jason Statham. That development didn’t sit well with Tyrese, who responded, in true wrestling heel fashion, by throwing just about every available insult at the Rock. Now Gibson’s throwing the ultimate gauntlet, or so he thinks it is. It’s one thing to make an ultimatum against someone like Ludacris, but the Rock? The same guy who was credited for reigniting interest in the franchise? The same guy who’s actually the most bankable star in Hollywood today? Yeah, good luck with that, Tyrese. Who knows, you might parlay your Fast and Furious exit with a starring role in The Tooth Fairy 2.

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At least we now know the reason behind the tirades

If there was anything important we learned about Tyrese’s rants against the Rock, he made it perfectly clear in his Instagram posts that he needs the paycheck from Fast 9 to help sustain his custody battle for his daughter Shayla. I don’t personally know the details behind this court battle, but it is serious enough that I’m not going to make any snide marks about it. I do hope that this issue has a happy ending for all parties concerned.

Having said that, I don’t think criticizing Dwayne Johnson is going to help Tyrese Gibson. Not by a long shot. And he probably only made it worse for himself when he threatened to quit the franchise if Johnson continues to be a part of it for the last two movies. If he’s relying on the paycheck the franchise gives him for something as important as a custody battle, where else is he going to get the money if he decides to leave the cash cow? It’s just not a smart move though, by looking at his posts, it’s hard to imagine Tyrese not being in the right frame of mind during his rants. It looks more and more like somebody who’s on the verge of breaking down. I feel for the guy. I really do. I hope he gets his life sorted out and he can continue to be part of the franchise because as much as he’s been lambasted in the media for being a B-list actor, let it be said that I’m actually a big fan of his involvement in the Fast and Furious franchise.

With so many muscle heads in the movie, Tyrese’s role as the comic relief is always one of the most refreshing aspects of the Fast and Furious movies. It’d be a shame if we don’t get to see his quick wits in the last two movies. I want this feud to be resolved just like everybody else. Nobody wins with issues like this anyway, especially when someone’s family somehow finds itself unwittingly involved in it.

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