(CNN) – do you remember that A major dispute between Vin Diesel and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson A few years ago? It was because of “tough love”.at Interview with Men’s Health صحةDiesel gave his explanation for why he and his former “Fast & Furious” star got into a fight, something Johnson addressed publicly in 2018.

According to Diesel, as a producer in the franchise, he had to take a tough stance on Johnson, who played Luke Hobbs.

“He was a difficult character to embody, Hobbs,” Diesel told Men’s Health. “My focus at the time was on ‘extreme love’ to help move this performance to where it needs to be. As a producer, say, ‘Okay, we’re going to take Dwayne Johnson, who’s associated with wrestling, and we’re going to force audience members in this movie world to regard his character as Someone they don’t know… Hobbs will tell you. It hits like tons of bricks.

Diesel went on to say, “That’s something I’m proud of, that aesthetic.”

That took a lot of work. We had to get there and sometimes it can be very difficult at this point. “He’s not Fellinisco, but he’ll do whatever it takes to get performance in whatever he produces.”

In 2016, Johnson posted a photo on his verified Instagram account, which he has already deleted, in which he talked about filming “The Fate of the Furious” and wrote, “Some (male co-stars) act like honest, honest men. Professionals, while others don’t.”

This caused rumors that he was referring to Diesel.

Johnson also posted a file A clip of the photoshoot on Instagram He wrote: “Those who are reading this know how much I believe in the idea of ​​TEAM EFFORT. It means respecting each person and their time and value when they enter my group or partner with our production company. And like any team which is a family there will be struggles.”

“The family will have differences of opinion and basic beliefs,” Johnson said. “For me, conflict can be a good thing, when great resolution follows.”

Johnson I spoke to Rolling Stone magazine In 2018, he said, “Fin and I had some discussions, including a big showdown in my trailer.”

“What I’ve come to understand is that we have fundamentally different philosophies about how we approach filmmaking and collaboration,” he said. “It took me a while, but I’m grateful for that clarity. Let’s work together again or not.”

Johnson starred in the 2019 solo show “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”, but did not appear in The new movie “F9”. which opens on Friday.

CNN has reached out to Johnson’s representatives about their reaction to Diesel’s comments.