Dwayne Johnson Pumps The Brakes On Vin Diesel's 'Fast And Furious' Reunion Plea

Embarrassment hasn’t seemed to be much of a deterrent in Vin Diesel’s career, so no one was particularly surprised by his bizarre public plea for Dwayne Johnson to return to the “Fast & Furious” franchise earlier this year

The two action heavyweights, of course, starred alongside each other in three films in the blockbuster saga before Johnson drove off into his own spin-off “Hobbs & Shaw.” But their working relationship apparently became so strained behind the scenes that they refused to film together or even be on set at the same time for 2017′s “The Fate and the Furious.” Of course, Johnson calling an unnamed male co-star a “chicken shit” and “candy ass” on Instagram didn’t particularly help matters, either.

Their feud, however, had seemingly cooled off in the intervening years until Diesel recently begged his “little brother” Johnson to reprise his role in the franchise’s tenth and presumably (hopefully?) final film.

“As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house,” he wrote on Instagram in November. “There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes... but the time has come.”

“I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo,” Diesel continued, referring to their late co-star Paul Walker by his nickname. “I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love... but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play.”

Well, consider the beef officially back on, because months later, Johnson has rejected the request and accused Diesel of “manipulation.”

“I was very surprised by Vin’s recent post. This past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly - and privately - that I would not be returning to the franchise,” he told CNN in a recent interview. “I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return.”

Johnson noted that he also “privately spoke” about his decision to leave the franchise with the producers behind the “Fast & Furious” films, who he said were “supportive as they understand the problem.”

Despite what may have been Diesel’s best intentions, Johnson said his post was an “example of his manipulation,” explaining that he “didn’t like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker’s death.”

“Leave them out of it,” he told the outlet. “We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding. My goal all along was to end my amazing journey with this incredible ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise with gratitude and grace. It’s unfortunate that this public dialogue has muddied the waters.”

“Regardless, I’m confident in the ‘Fast’ universe and its ability to consistently deliver for the audience,” he concluded. “I truly wish my former co-stars and crew members the best of luck and success in the next chapter.”

Diesel has yet to respond to Johnson’s comments, but previously said he took a “tough love” approach on set with his co-stars “to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be.”

Apparently, Diesel, who also produces the films, felt the need to step in to get the desired performance from Johnson.

“That took a lot of work. We had to get there and sometimes, at that time, I could give a lot of tough love,” he told Men’s Health earlier this year about Jonhson’s characterization. “Not Felliniesque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing.”

Looks like there will be no driving off into the sunset for these two.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.