Actor and writer Wil Wheaton didn’t hold back his frustration with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson this week, slamming him as a “coward” for selecting to stay politically neutral.
Johnson played coy when asked whether he had stayed silent to maximise the audience for his movies.
He leaned Democratic in 2020 when he endorsed Joe Biden, but later said he regretted his endorsement.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has come under fire from a Hollywood colleague for selecting to stay silent politically, at the same time as the country plunges deeper into political division.
In a passionate social media post, Wil Wheaton labeled Johnson a “coward,” seemingly maintaining that public figures have an ethical obligation to take a stand on critical social and political issues.
“So disappointing to seek out out he’s such a coward,” Wheaton wrote on Threads on Monday, per Entertainment Weekly.
Wheaton’s criticism got here in response to a post by George Takei that quoted Esquire’s recent interview with Johnson.
“Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s recent comments to Esquire about wanting to ‘keep my politics to myself’ have divided fans, with some calling out his silence,” Takei wrote on Threads.
In a follow-up response, he added, “Silence is complicity.”
Dwayne Johnson Says Art Is His ‘Primary Thing’
Wheaton has remained a vocal Trump critic and previously campaigned for Kamala Harris within the buildup to the 2024 presidential election.
Unlike him, whose political stand is thought, Johnson is neither here nor there. In an interview with Esquire last month, he explained why he intentionally avoids the subject when asked whether he was trying to maximise his movies’ audience by doing so.
“What I even have learned through experience is that I want to maintain — need, not want — the primary thing the primary thing. And the primary thing for me, the thing that within the morning I swing my legs off the bed, and I run towards, is creating. It’s art. It’s storytelling,” he told the outlet.
Wheaton has remained a vocal Trump critic and previously campaigned for Kamala Harris within the buildup to the 2024 presidential elections.
Johnson Says He ‘Hates’ Politics
Johnson went further to clarify within the interview that he doesn’t want his politics to distract from his work, but is all the time open to dialogue.
“I’ve learned I’m going to maintain my politics to myself,” he said. “There are moments when, hey, there’s nothing we are able to’t speak about. If I’m flawed, I’ll let you know I’m flawed. Or if I feel like I got a leg up and that is the proper approach to go, I’ll share it with you.”
He continued, “Politics is omnipresent, and it’s without end. I don’t prefer it. [Laughs.] I hate it at times. I hate the slinging. I hate all of the bullsh-t that comes with it.”
He then addressed the reporter, who had brought up politics with a remark about Bruce Springsteen’s recent anti-Trump tour, saying it might be higher if each parties that don’t see eye to eye had a conversation moderately than calling one another out.
Dwayne Johnson Vowed Not To Repeat 2020 Endorsement
Johnson leaned Democratic in 2020 when he publicly endorsed Joe Biden within the buildup to the presidential election.
Nevertheless, in a 2024 chat with Fox News’ Will Cain, the “Black Adam” star expressed regret for his actions, noting that his endorsement caused significant division amongst his fanbase.
“The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was one I believed was one of the best decision for me at the moment… And I believed back then, after we speak about, ‘Hey, you realize, I’m on this position where I even have some influence, and it’s my job then… to exercise my influence and share… that is who I’m going to endorse,’” he said on the time.
“Am I gonna try this again this yr? That answer is not any, I’m not gonna try this, because what I spotted — what that caused back then — was something that tears me up in my guts, back then and now, which is division,” he added. “And that got me. The takeaway after that, months and months and months, I began to appreciate, like, ‘Oh man, that caused an incredible amount of division in our country.’”
Dwayne Johnson Opened Up About Cancer Scare
Away from his political stance, Johnson has also had a difficult time along with his health, as he opened up a couple of very painful cancer scare in his interview with Esquire.
He revealed that, before press time for “Jumanji: Open World,” he discovered a lump on one in every of his testicles while showering.
“By the best way: I’m tremendous,” he insisted. “But I didn’t know that then, and the thing was really painful.”
He added that he decided to maintain it away from everyone and didn’t even tell his wife of nearly twenty years, Lauren Hashian.
“I didn’t wish to worry her before I knew if it was anything to even worry about,” he said.
When he visited his doctor, he was told it might be a case of epididymitis or a symptom of testicular cancer and was asked to take an ultrasound immediately.
“So, I needed to live with that for those 24 hours, not knowing,” he recalled, later adding that he’s “OK” now. “And I needed to be on all day, joking around, making speeches.”