The Rock got more than his share of flowers from fans and critics following his fantastic multi-month WWE run earlier this year, but all that positive press came to a screeching halt earlier this week when he was hit with a lengthy article accusing him of a host of allegations including unprofessionalism and chronic tardiness. Most of the accusations were related to movie-making, particularly on the set of the upcoming Red One, but the piece also claimed he was three hours late to WrestleMania 40, an allegation he clapped back against by posting a photo album on social media.
Of course Dwayne Johnson didn’t address the allegation, which was published by The Wrap, directly. Instead, he simply dropped a photo album showing him rehearsing with a hashtag saying gameday. The implication is clear though. The photos were taken during a walkthrough that occurred without fans in the stadium, which means if it happened on gameday, it must have happened many hours before the event. WWE also released a statement saying he arrived hours early before the event to help with rehearsals and was a “pleasure” to work with throughout his entire run. You can check out the album he dropped below…
The article in question, which has gone mega-viral, mostly focuses on Hollywood and claims the budget for Johnson’s new Christmas movie, Red One, has ballooned to $250M because of a perfect storm of issues that have been exacerbated by The Rock’s alleged tardiness. The piece claims he was an average of 7 or 8 hours late each day and didn’t show up on set entirely a few times. It also quotes a source as claiming he doesn’t actually care and further points to his tardiness at events around WrestleMania as proof, including at one fan event he was extremely late to, though in fairness, he played it off in character extremely well.
These aren’t the first stories of Hollywood problems for the mega-star. Johnson was involved in a high profile feud with Vin Diesel over issues on the Fast & Furious set and was the subject of plenty of finger-pointing around Black Adam’s sub-optimal box office performance. Conversely, though, he’s also been repeatedly praised over the years for his generosity and seems to be well-liked by at least some of his co-workers. I can’t speak to what happened on Red One or any of the other sets he’s been on, but he’s not historically been someone with a black cloud attached to his reputation.
And the story during his return to WWE was extremely positive. Fans initially complained about the way he was presented and his storyline when he first returned, but he listened to the feedback and pivoted to tell one of the best stories we’ve gotten in decades. Dozens of lower card talent have also posted about the time he’s taken to hangout, take pictures and be actively involved in WWE behind the scenes. There’s been some light complaining through anonymous sources about the amount of screentime he was getting, but that’s a constant refrain in the wrestling business and also, ridiculous given the ratings he was bringing in and the tickets he was selling.
At this point, The Rock’s future is unclear. After his fantastic recent run in WWE, he departed to go film his new A24 movie The Smashing Machine, which is shooting right now. He was recently given a seat on the board of directors for WWE’s parent company and has vowed to return to an onscreen role in some capacity later this year. Triple H and the other writers seem to already be preparing for his return with a new storyline, but the timeframes and specifics are still unclear.
Red One is scheduled to open on November 15th, 2024.
