Dwayne Johnson Seemingly Quoted a Dangerous, Misogynistic Influencer Deemed “a Threat to Women”

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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Credit: ABC

A beloved star of the screen, Dwayne Johnson, has become entangled with Andrew Tate — the controversial influencer currently under investigation on human trafficking and rape charges.

Dwayne Johnson in Jungle Cruise
Credit: Disney

Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock due to his tenure in the wrestling community, has become of the world’s most commercially successful movie stars. Johnson has gained a massive following throughout his career as both a wrestler and actor and will next be seen in the high-profile DC Extended Universe movie, Black Adam (2022), where Johnson stars as the titular anti-hero based on the DC Comics character of the same name. He now joins the likes of Gal Gadot (Diana Prince/Wonder Woman), Henry Cavill (Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman), and Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry/Aquaman) in the on-screen DC Universe.

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam
Credit: DC/Warner Bros

Related: Wildly Popular Dwayne Johnson Unexpectedly Gets Booed By Fans

Johnson gained mainstream success as Luke Hobbs in Fast Five (2011) and has since starred in the majority of the following Fast and Furious franchise films, as well as its spinoff Hobbs & Shaw (2019) alongside Jason Statham. The former WWE star also starred in action films like San Andreas (2015) and Skyscraper (2018), while rebooting the Jumanji franchise with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). For The Walt Disney Company, Johnson portrayed the Polynesian demigod Maui in Moana (2016), and more recently, as Frank Wolff/Francisco Lopez de Heredia, in the live-action Jungle Cruise (2021) with Emily Blunt.

moana in thunderstorm
Credit: Disney

His successful career, along with his dedicated, large, and loyal fandom is all the more reason why Johnson’s supposed quoting of a controversial influencer is confusing. In a recent Instagram video, the actor — who has 333 million followers — shared his motivation to hit the gym every day, and some have seemingly found the source of said quote. The caption reads:

Sweaty, hot and smelly (me;) wrapping up a 1230am workout.

Heard a quote and mindset, I thought you guys could use/

The person who goes to the gym, every single day, regardless of how they feel — will always beat the person who goes to the gym when they feel like going to the gym.

Solid anchoring philosophy here of pushing past our fatigue and doing the daily hard, consistent shit we often don’t feel like doing.

Inevitably, will always give you that edge. Physically yes — but more importantly — the psychological edge to succeed.

Finish your week strong.

Mentality.

dwayne the rock johnson onstage in suit
Credit: ABC News

Not sourcing anyone, in particular, commenters and those fluent in the language of the internet have seemingly identified its source — Andrew Tate, and the influencer and internet personality has even claimed to be the inspiration behind The Rock’s speech in his own Instagram video which is essentially a reshare of Johnson’s post. Tate said:

Isn’t it interesting how winners always understand eachother [sic: each other]?

Fans have been quick to call out this entanglement between the two and Tate has apparently taken The Rock’s paraphrasing of a quote he also said as support from the high-profile star. Of course, there is the likely possibility that Johnson does not know where the quote came from nor which controversial online personality said it. However, some have already cut ties with the actor following the videos that have been floated online. One Twitter user, @JBaileyTweets83, said:

@TheRock I just saw an Instagram post where you quote Andrew Tate… sorry my friend, but your movies are no longer welcome here. That man is a threat to women.

Another commented on The Rock’s Instagram video, saying: “That quote from Andrew [T]ate. That boy everywhere.”

Who is Andrew Tate? Tate made a name for himself as a kickboxer before gaining notoriety during the 2016 season of Big Brother when a video was released of him hitting a woman — something which he later described as consensual. During his online career, he has been riddled with controversies throughout the years with allegations of rape and human trafficking hitting the headlines and his views on women, comments on sexual assault, and domestic violence going viral on social media.

In 2022, prompted by reports of an American woman trapped in his Romanian home, police raided his abode and according to authorities, an investigation is still ongoing. Despite his controversies and open stance on women and the LGBTQ+ community, Tate has a massive internet following and presence, with the Andrew Tate hashtag having 11.5 billion tags on TikTok alone.

Dwayne johnson as Skipper Frank in Disney's Jungle Cruise movie
Credit: Disney

Related: Dwayne Johnson Leaves Fans “Trembling” After Unexpected Shock

Fans of Johnson’s can catch his voice in the recent DC League of Super-Pets (2022), where the actor plays the role of Bark Kent/Krypto the Superdog. The actor can also be heard narrating the series based on his own life, Young Rock.

What do you think of this situation? Let us know in the comments down below!

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