Dwayne Johnson
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
February 10, 2022 ·  4 min read

Trans Comments From Dwayne Johnson Result In Push To Get The Rock Canceled

Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, is known for being the nicest guy in Hollywood. So nice, in fact, that he is one of the highest-paid, too, with directors clambering to work with him. Recently, however, his reputation has taken a bit of a hit over both recent and old tweets. Some are even calling to cancel him outright – but should we?

Cancel Culture Is After Dwayne Johnson

Even the “nicest guy in Hollywood” isn’t safe from cancel culture, apparently. Not long after rapper Snoop Dogg came out saying he wished people would try and cancel him, cancel culture instead went after one of America’s most beloved actors, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. First, The Rock posted a tweet in support of highly controversial podcaster Joe Rogan. People were quick to point out that he was supporting someone who openly used the “N” word over the span of more than a decade on his show and in his podcast. The Rock retracted his statement, thanking the user for educating him on Rogan’s full narrative. (1)

Unfortunately for Johnson, the digs didn’t stop there. Someone dug up a video that is allegedly from more than a decade old of him using some transphobic slurs. People then began highlighting tweets, comments, and other actions that he took during his days as a WWE wrestler, all of which were also more than a decade old. From there, people began calling for us to cancel Dwayne Johnson. (2)

Read: People Are Trying To Cancel Pepe Le Pew And Speedy Gonzales From ‘Looney Tunes’

You Can’t Just Delete Your Past

Donald Trump Jr, son of the former president, was one of those to come after The Rock. He took a screenshot of one of Johnson’s tweets from 2011 that contains some transphobic remarks. He then accused the actor of deleting the tweet and said that you can’t just delete things without apologizing for them and expect people not to notice.

“Wow, @TheRock, you can’t just try to quietly delete transphobic attacks without giving a groveling apology and expect to ever work in Hollywood again,” he tweeted alongside the screenshot of Dwayne Johnson’s tweet.

Caitlin Jenner then responded to the tweet thanking Trump Jr for bringing the deleted tweets to light. In her tweet, she said that cancel culture has to go and that The Rock needs to use his platform to educate, not simply eliminate his past discretions.

They Are Not Recent Comments

Many of the remarks that the internet is dragging Johnson for things he said from his days as a pro wrestler over a decade ago. During his career, he was the “villain” in the ring and much of what he did and said was scripted. Of course, this is not an excuse for hateful or harmful speech, and Dwayne Johnson certainly has some apologizing to do, however, many are saying that decades-old comments are not something we should cancel him for. Especially when the actor has been such a positive influence in the movie and fame industry.

Image Credit: Twitter

This is yet again bringing up the controversy of cancel culture and whether or not it is actually productive. This is particularly so if we are looking to cancel people over comments they made a long time ago, especially when they have proven in recent years that they are no longer that person. Is it not important to give people room to learn from their mistakes and grow, rather than just ax everyone who’s ever made a bad comment or spoken in a harmful way toward another group of people? As Dwayne Johnson said in his tweet after the Joe Rogan support fiasco, it was a “learning moment”. Should Johnson be held accountable for the hurtful things he did and said during his days as The Rock? Yes – he should most definitely publicly apologize for the hateful things he said back then. Should he be outright canceled, never allowed to work, or show his face in Hollywood again? I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem to be very productive at all.

Keep Reading: ‘Don’t Look Up’ Is Basically About How Collectively Stupid Society Is

Sources

  1. “Caitlyn Jenner Hits Out at Dwayne Johnson Over Past Transphobic Remarks.” Newsweek. Khaleda Rahman. February 6, 2022.
  2. “The Rock is branded a hypocrite for turning on pal Joe Rogan for using N-word in old podcasts after former wrestler’s transphobic tweet calling a woman a ‘tranny’ and clip of him performing ‘insensitive’ Chinese impression in WWE resurface.” Daily Mail. Melissa Koenig, et al. February 8, 2022.