Vin Diesel on The Rock Feud: 'In My House, He's Uncle Dwayne'

In a fresh interview with USA Today to promote "The Fate of the Furious," Vin Diesel is defusing rumors of that so-called feud between himself and co-star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, saying they were "blown out of proportion."

Johnson had shared an Instagram post in August 2016 that dubbed some of his male co-stars "candy asses" who were behaving unprofessionally. TMZ reported that the post was aimed at Diesel, who wrote on social media that he planned to tell "everything."

Now, Diesel says, "I don't think the world really realizes how close we are, in a weird way." He also tried to put Johnson's angry-sounding post into context, saying, "I don't think that was his intention. I know he appreciates how much I work this franchise."

As if to show that the men are almost like family, Diesel assered, "In my house, he's Uncle Dwayne... Dwayne Johnson only has one big brother in this film world and that's me."

Diesel, a producer of the films, said he takes a lot of the heat surrounding the mega-successful series. "I protected Dwayne more than he'll ever know. And it doesn't matter. He doesn't have to know. But he appreciates it."