The Fast 8 star says costar Dwayne Johnson “shines” in his role

PHOTO: JASON LAVERIS/FILMMAGIC

Feud? What feud?

Amidst all the rumors and reports of tension between Fast 8 costars Vin Diesel and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Diesel recently took to Facebook Live to acknowledge the end of the film’s production and to praise his fellow actors, including Johnson.

“The reason we brought Dwayne Johnson into Fast Five was because of you!” Diesel said of listening to suggestions form his fans, who were asking him questions during the live video he posted Friday. “There was a girl named Jan Kelly who said, ‘I would love to see you work together on screen.’ So the role that was originally written for Tommy Lee Jones, we gave it to Dwayne and he shined in it.”

Diesel’s specific mention of Johnson is noteworthy because the alleged feud began with Johnson publicly calling out his male costars for being “candy asses.”

“Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t,” Johnson wrote in a post on Facebook. “The ones that don’t are too chicken s— to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses.”

Johnson’s post led to immediate speculation about which male Fast 8 costars he was talking about, a cast list that includes: Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Lucas Black, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges and Scott Eastwood, with multiple sources alleging that Johnson’s beef is with Diesel. The feud rumors continued last week when Johnson posted a thank you message on Instagram to his Fast 8 cast and crew and left Diesel’s name out of it.

In Diesel’s video, which also posted Friday, the actor did not address the feud directly, but in addition to praising Johnson, also singled out his new cast member Helen Mirren. “It was so surreal,” he said of working with the Oscar winner. “She’s such a wonderful, wonderful talent. It was such a blessing.”

Fast 8 is slated to hit theaters April 14, 2017.