Dwayne Johnson on stage in Las Vegas, April 2024. Photo: Jerod Harris/Getty Images for CinemaCon
Known for his signature With rectangular containers and throat-drying prices, Voss bottled water is the refreshing drink of choice for many celebrities. This is also useful when you need to go to the toilet but don't want to use a public bathroom. Just ask the world's cutest action hero, Dwayne Johnson, aka wrestling icon The Rock…
That Johnson is partial to the occasional clink in a bottle has long been common knowledge. He bragged about it in an interview with Esquire, saying, “I usually drink enough fluids. I need to go to the toilet often… I have to go to the toilet a couple of times during each workout. That's why I knock the bottle out.”
He presented it as a funny anecdote – another humane story of a celebrity who rose from grinding poverty in Hawaii to become the biggest movie star in the world and, until recently, an A-lister with dreams of filming in the White House. But Johnson's crazy toilet habit is now being cast in a more negative light amid accusations of unusual on-set behavior – babbling that could sink his (already rather moribund) political hopes once and for all.
It's not just that Johnson used Voss for purposes clearly not intended by its manufacturers. It is alleged that he asked assistants to then dispose of the containers. “On set, away from the trailer, if he needs to go to the bathroom, he doesn’t go to the public restroom,” an insider told The Wrap. “He pees in Voss's water bottle and his team or personal assistant has to get rid of it.”
Dwayne Johnson and Adele at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Photo: Getty
If only there was a tiny end to it all. The anecdote about his Voss habit is just one of many unflattering stories about Johnson that have emerged — all in the context of his endlessly delayed, wildly over-budgeted Amazon MGM Christmas blockbuster, Red One, in which he portrays — and yes, that's a real story — the veteran special forces are trying to save the kidnapped Santa Claus.
Red One was planned to be released late last year. But due to a bloated $250 million budget, it was pushed back to November this year, with insiders blaming Johnson's chronic tardiness for the film being $50 million over budget and making life very difficult for everyone else on set.
According to The Wrap, his co-stars are furious: “Dwayne really doesn't give a damn,” one insider said of the leading man's alleged habit of showing up seven or eight hours late. (Johnson's reps did not respond to questions from The Wrap, although Amazon denied accusations of tardiness: “Dwayne Johnson and [producer] Seven Bucks were incredible partners on Red One… a movie that audiences of all ages will enjoy this holiday.” season,” the statement read.)
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in the film “Hobbs and Shaw” Photo: AP
These reports will look bad to anyone. But they're especially damaging to Johnson, who has long prided himself on his “nice guy” image, which extends to the stipulation that all his films have happy endings (otherwise he feels he's breaking his deal with audiences). An action star modeled after old-school Arnold Schwarzenegger, Johnson had long contemplated following his predecessor into politics. Last year, he said “multiple parties” had approached him about running for high office and said polls showed 46 percent of Americans would vote for him for president.
He has already announced that he is ready to run for the Oval Office. “I can’t deny that the thought of becoming governor, the thought of becoming president, is tempting,” he told GQ in 2016. Twelve months later, looking ahead to the 2024 election, he said putting his name on the ballot was a “realistic consideration.”
This may no longer be the case. His place on the leaderboard is also not secure. After his disastrous comic book film Black Adam, where he tried to be a charismatic villain, and the disastrous Disney film Jungle Cruise, he is no longer considered a reliable player at the box office. Then there's the drama surrounding Red, which contradicts Johnson's frequent claim that he is “the hardest worker in the room.” “The only thing Dwayne was consistent about was being chronically late,” a person involved in the filming told The Wrap.
Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds in the movie “Red Notice” Photo: Netflix
Johnson's poor timing in Hollywood is no secret. He reportedly clashed with the usually friendly Ryan Reynolds in their Netflix action movie Red Notice after his co-star often had to wait five hours or more for him to show up. In his monster movie Rampage, another actor wrote down how late he was every morning. Earlier this year, the former WWE wrestling chief showed up three hours late to the WrestleMania event in Philadelphia and was met with a barrage of jeers.
“You're booing because Rock was a little late, so that's why you're booing?” Johnson said, trying to pass off his tardiness as The Rock's bad boy image. “[The Rock] was watching YouTube and watching [Eagles quarterback] Jalen Hurts lose again in the playoffs.”
These recent statements also shed new light on his highly publicized feud with Vin Diesel during the making of the Fast and Furious films. Johnson famously dubbed Diesel a “Kandya**” on social media. At the time, there were rumors that he was tired of Diesel constantly being late. But according to people on the set, both stars had poor punctuality and unchecked egos fueled the feud. (Diesel responded with a cryptic Instagram post, promising to “tell all.”)
These revelations could not come in It was the worst time for Johnson, who was eager to establish himself in the franchise and saw his future as part of the DC Comics universe. More than his future. The Wrap suggests that he and his former personal assistant Hiram Garcia were essentially trying to take over the DCU.
Garcia is the brother of Johnson's ex-wife Dany Garcia. Initially, his duties included cooking for John and running errands. However, in 2017, Johnson named him president of his production company, Seven Bucks. “Hiram went from making protein shakes for Dwayne to running his own company,” a Universal Pictures source told The Wrap. “If Vince [from Entourage] tries to give Turtle a real job, you'll end up with Hiram Garcia.”
Garcia was at Johnson's side in 2022 when he met the newly appointed head of mega-studio Warner Bros. Discovery by David Zaslav. Garcia and Johnson had a number of offers, including Henry Cavill's now-infamous Superman cameo in Black Adam, which indicated (incorrectly) that Cavill was open to returning as the Man of Steel. The movie star and his pal also made it clear that they are ready to take over the DC Universe. Instead, Zaslav did the opposite, bringing in James Gunn to lead the DCU and cutting ties with Johnson.
Dwayne Johnson in Black Adam
Johnson settled on Garcia, producer of Red One, budget which is limited. spiral. “They brushed it off and said, 'We're going to keep this under control,' which they didn't,” is how one employee described Amazon MGM's response to rising overhead. “How are you going to keep this under control? You do not. Things just don't work that way. You can't make a movie where your budget is more than half your actual production budget.”
Johnson is already looking to the future. His next project is Crush Machine, a gritty wrestling biopic directed by Benny Safdie and produced by A24, a renowned indie production company. A24 is best known for existential chillers like The Witch and Midsommar. But could the real horror story be the decision to work with Dwayne Johnson?
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