Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s is facing a new onslaught of allegations that he’s an ego-driven star who’s difficult to work with, with a report describing how the muscle-bound former pro wrestler is often hours late to movie sets and fan events and needs to exercise “control” over others around him.
The new report in The Wrap describes how Johnson’s chronic tardiness is nothing new in his career. His alleged tendency to keep co-stars and crew members waiting for up to eight hours on his latest film, “Red One,” also has turned the Christmas-themed action-comedy into a “massive budgetary misadventure” with a budget ballooning to more than $250 million, the report also said.
The Wrap said insider accounts of the Hayward native’s tardiness and “odd personal demands” over the years has undercut the positive public persona he has spent two decades nurturing in Hollywood. By the way, The Wrap said that one of those demands, which Johnson himself alluded to in a 2021 Esquire interview, involves expectations that his assistants will dispose of bottles that he urinates in, so that he doesn’t have to interrupt his storied, three-hour workout routines.
The Wrap reported that the movie star and entrepreneur has long advocated for himself as “the hardest worker in the room,” but he actually has “developed a reputation in the industry for his lateness and lack of professionalism on set,” according to multiple insiders.
Said one insider on the set of “Red One”: “The only thing Dwayne was consistent at was being chronically late.”
With regard to “Red One” production, a spokesperson for the studio, Amazon MGM, denied to The Wrap that there were any issues caused by Johnson being late, saying that he’s been an “incredible” partner in the project
But The Wrap also reported that Johnson’s tardiness has created tensions with co-stars, most famously with Vin Diesel when they worked together on the “Fast & Furious” franchise, as People and Page Six also said in reports, going back to 2016. Regarding the feud between the two action stars, an insider told People: “Vin was having problems with The Rock because The Rock keeps showing up late for production. … Sometimes he doesn’t show up at all, and he’s delaying the production.”
Johnson also clashed with Ryan Reynolds when they worked together on the 2020 Netflix film “Red Notice,” leading to a “big fight” and Johnson storming off set, The Wrap reported. TMZ similarly reported that Johnson’s repeated tardiness aggravated Reynolds but said the two actors were able to patch things up and “the shoot continued without further issue.”
But Johnson was difficult in other ways on the set of “Red Notice,” which was filmed during the pandemic in 2020, according to The Wrap.
Insiders accused Johnson of breaking strict quarantine rules. While the crew had to be sequestered during production, Johnson frequently flew home on his private jet, with The Wrap quoting one crew member who alleged: “He got to host family and friends for a BBQ, and wound up getting COVID anyway. Most selfish thing I’ve ever seen an actor do.”
The reasons behind Johnson’s perpetual lateness seem to stem from his refusal to work a full shooting day, despite factoring in his three-hour daily workout routine, The Wrap reported. One studio insider said the actor doesn’t want to work more than a four- or five-hour day, while another said, “It’s a control thing.”
The Wrap added that Johnson’s tardiness “has been an issue for a number of years,” also citing his behavior on the HBO football series “Ballers,” which ran from 2015 to 2019.
“They rent a location they can shoot as much as they can of other actors while they wait for him to decide if he’s coming to set,” a producer who visited the set told The Wrap. A former production assistant added: “He was regularly three to four hours late to set. Keeping (more than 100) crew members waiting for no reason.” According to a third insider, in March of 2017 Johnson was six hours late to the “Ballers” set.
On the set of the 2018 film “Rampage,” Johnson was late an average of four to five hours a day, with one costar keeping records of his tardiness, two insiders told The Wrap.
Johnson’s reported tardiness extends to other commitments as well, The Wrap reported. Earlier this month, he was three hours late arriving ahead of his main event match at WrestleMania 40, two insiders told TheWrap. For WWE World, a WWE fan event in Philadelphia leading up to WrestleMania 40, Johnson showed up two hours behind schedule, drawing boos from the crowd and criticism from the local Philadelphia press, The Wrap also reported.
These accounts of Johnson being “difficult” come after two of the star’s last two blockbusters — “Skyscraper” in 2018 and the DC comic book adaptation, “Black Adam” last year — underperformed critically and commercially.
Meanwhile, Johnson has been dogged by other controversies over the past year, which have drawn social media criticism that he’s arrogant, elitist, hypocritical or engaging in election-year political opportunism.
In August, Johnson and Oprah Winfrey faced massive backlash for the way they begged their fans to contribute to a fund to support Maui residents who lost their homes in deadly wildfires. People were angry that Johnson, who is worth an estimated $800 million, and his even richer friend didn’t seem to be upholding their social responsibilities. In a video shot “poolside,” Johnson acknowledged public anger and said, “I could have been better, and next time, I will be better,” Vanity Fair reported.
Then, early last month, Johnson ignited speculation that he was turning to the right politically when he went on Fox News and employed “right-signaling” language to say that he wouldn’t publicly endorse Joe Biden for president this year, as he had in 2020, Vanity Fair also reported.
Johnson has always “walked a narrow line” when it comes to politics, Vanity Fair said, while he has long been suspected of Republican leanings and has perhaps harbored political ambitions himself. The Rock told Fox News that he regretted endorsing anyone because he thought that he, with his “level of influence,” sowed division in America. He said he’d keep his presidential choice to himself this year, while also complaining that he was “really bugged” about today’s “cancel culture, work culture.”
