Vin Diesel weighs in on Fast & Furious feud: It's 'unfair' to blame anyone

Tyrese Gibson hasn’t backed off his criticism of Dwayne Johnson, but Vin Diesel threw in his two cents on the feud on Saturday. The Fast & Furious star addressed “brotherhood… and all it’s [sic] complexities” in a post published to Instagram, along with a photo of Diesel filming a scene for the franchise with The Rock.

“I know there has been a lot of speculation as to why the Fast 9 release date was pushed… but it would be unfair to say it is anyone’s fault,” Diesel wrote. “As we plot the course to expand the Fast & Furious universe, one must be mindful to take stock of the roads we took to get here. The pillars of authenticity, family and most importantly, our loyal fan’s perspective has been instrumental in procuring success.”

When word of Universal Pictures delaying the release of Fast & Furious 9, Gibson took to social media to implore Johnson not to delay the sequel; talk of a Hobbs-centric spin-off would have potentially reconfigured the release schedule. The studio formally announced the Fast 9 shift to 2020 on Wednesday and a 2019 release date for a Johnson-Jason Statham spin-off was revealed a day later. This didn’t quell Gibson’s frustration and the actor took to Instagram, again, to slam Johnson for making the franchise “all about YOU” and, later, calling him a “clown.”

Diesel continued his response by noting that, “like any vehicle that has run around the globe 8 times, the franchise is in need of maintenance. My good friend and the godfather of Universal, Ron Meyer has granted me the time to do just that. We have some very exciting news to share soon… stay tuned. Yours truly, Dom #FamilyAlways.”

Read his full response below.

The Hobbs-Shaw spin-off is scheduled for theaters on July 26, 2019, while Fast & Furious 9 is set for April 10, 2020.