Dwayne Johnson's Nice-Guy Reputation Took a Hit After His Reported Behavior on 'Red One'

For a long time, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s reputation was impeccable in Hollywood. He was known as a kind, hard-working actor who remained down-to-earth even as his fame grew on a global scale. But recently, his seemingly impenetrable A-list status has taken a few hits lately, and he might have some explaining to do.

The Wrap did a deep-dive investigation into the production of Amazon MGM’s upcoming Christmas film, Red One. While the film was delayed by one year, supposedly due to the 2023 actors and writers’ strikes, the article paints a much different story behind the scenes. The 51-year-old star had a “consistent” tardiness problem that cost the studios millions of dollars because of the delay — and the sources pointed out he was late by hours, not minutes. The Wrap spoke with at least three eyewitnesses from the set of Red One, who claimed that Johnson “was late an average of seven to eight hours per day and missed several entire days of production, ballooning costs by at least $50 million.” One of the sources noted, “It was a f–king disaster” while another added, “Dwayne truly doesn’t give a f–k.”

A representative from Amazon MGM came to the former WWE star’s defense, telling TMZ, “Dwayne Johnson and Seven Bucks have been incredible partners on Red One — a film that audiences of all ages are going to love this holiday season. Our testing has been very strong — the reaction from CinemaCon speaks for itself — and we couldn’t have made it without Dwayne’s constant work and support. Any reporting that implies that we got to this point with him showing up 7-8 hours late to set is both ridiculous and false.” They have a vested interest in Johnson’s movie doing well when it comes out in November, so it’s understandable that they are trying to tamp down any bad press. 

However, there’s a pattern of behavior that’s been called out on other productions, including his HBO show Ballers, and a well-chronicled feud with Vin Diesel during their time together on the Fast & Furious movies which dates back to 2016. “Vin has been having problems with The Rock because The Rock keeps showing up late for production,” a source told People eight years ago. “Sometimes he doesn’t show up at all, and he’s delaying the production.” Plus, there is his alleged “huge fight” with Ryan Reynolds on the 2020 set of Netflix’s Red Notice which resulted in Johnson exiting the set with a flourish. It affected their friendship for years until the two actors recently reconciled. However, TMZ sources claimed that the blow-up was less explosive than The Wrap reported. 

What does seem to linger is Johnson’s lack of professionalism for the cast and crew who work hard to make a movie happen. An hour delay can cause a serious setback for an entire production, and it affects everyone involved. Johnson has yet to address the claims in the article, but he may want to confront the rumors head-on because fans are starting to question the actions of public figures, and they will want accountability from him.

Before you go, click here to see celebrity co-stars who allegedly hated each other in real life.