The feud between Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Vin Diesel has been making headlines for weeks now, with rumors circulating about Diesel's alleged diva behavior on the "Fast 8" set, and other costars taking sides (or steering clear of the drama entirely). But there have also been whispers about the questionable motivation behind Johnson calling out Diesel (and calling him a "candy ass") in the first place, and whether or not this was genuine beef, or perhaps some sort of odd publicity stunt.

According to a new report, it's apparently the latter. Life & Style is claiming to have the inside scoop on what's been going down between the two actors, and it appears that their public fight is really just a ruse to gear up fans for another, more literal public fight next year. The tabloid acknowledges that "there is some truth to the recent rivalry," but alleges that "the beef is largely a publicity stunt" meant to serve two purposes.

Here's what one alleged insider told Life & Style about the plan:

"They are playing a huge prank, and it's all for publicity. ... The Rock convinced Vin to amp up the drama between them so they could turn it into a WWE match to help promote the April 2017 release of 'Fast 8.'"

The timing would certainly work out, since the WWE's marquee event, WrestleMania 33, is slated to take place on April 2, 2017, with the release of "Fast 8" following on April 14. And reports about Diesel's alleged on-set issues would give credence to Life & Style's claim that the problems between the actors are based in reality -- but those problems are also potentially quite easy to exploit thanks to the overblown dramatics for which the WWE is known.

The real question is whether or not both actors would actually agree to such a high-profile prank. It's possible, though it makes us wonder about poor Tyrese, who appears to be in the dark about such shenanigans. We'll have to wait until April until we know the truth (and whether or not Mr. Gibson forgives them for their ruse).

[via: Life & Style]

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