Dwayne Johnson is hitting back at a reporter.
The 51-year-old wrestler-turned-actor was recently booed by the crowd while making an appearance at a WWE press conference.
Reporter Nick Sortor then claimed on Twitter that Dwayne was booed because he didn’t deliver on his promise to provide financial relief to Maui following last year’s devastating wildfires.
Keep reading to find out more…“Dwayne Johnson promised TENS OF MILLIONS to the victims of the Maui fires, but many victims still have not seen a dime,” Sortor wrote.
“It looks like the audience is fully AMERICA FIRST and is demanding The Rock and Oprah follow through with their commitment to take care of the people of Lahaina,” he continued. “The crowd started booing and chanting ‘MAUI! MAUI! MAUI!” MAKE IT HAPPEN!’”
If you were unaware, Dwayne teamed up with Oprah Winfrey to launch the People’s Fund of Maui back at the end of August 2023, and donated $10 million together for the cause.
Two days after Sortor‘s claims, Dwayne took to his own Twitter account to respond.
“I typically refrain from responding to toxic, false clickbait garbage like this because I hate dignifying bullshit with a response, but when you use Hawaii’s tragic events to draw attention to yourself I won’t stay quiet,” Dwayne began.
“This moment you’re referring to is from our @WWE press conference this past Thursday where I turned ‘heel’- wrestling parlance for bad guy,” he continued. “I’m playing it up with our crowd as they boo. It’s what we do in our WWE universe, and we all love every second of it.”
“For the record: Our People’s Fund of Maui has already DELIVERED over $50 MILLION DOLLARS to over 8,000 survivors who were affected by the fires, and I’m grateful to the bone that we’ve been the primary funders,” Dwayne explained.
“Hawaii is where I grew up, where I raise my children throughout the year and where my ancestors are buried,” he continued. “These are my Polynesian people and these are OUR American people. You can’t imagine how much they are still struggling daily to put their lives back together and take care of each other. Our Poly American people are as resilient as people come, and they will raise and get back on their feet.”
Dwayne then addressed the reported directly, writing, “Nick, instead of posting bulls–t like this that you know is false – I encourage you to post something positive for Hawaii, for our Polynesian American people. Or actually take positive action and come to Hawaii to help out in an uplifting way. I’m in Hawaii now, and I guarantee you, you’ll get great content that can actually make a difference in people’s lives. Genuinely. ”
“Let’s put our energy and our online platforms into lifting people up. Acknowledging the good things that people do,” Dwayne added. “Raising awareness for the suffering in ways that can effectively help. It takes so much effort to be negative, and create and spread bullshit – but when you spread positivity, kindness, and lead by example you can really impact lives.”
He concluded, “I’m sorry to all our Poly/Hawaiian ohana of Maui, for shining light on this toxicity as you struggle through tough times – I always try to be Na’au Pono. Love U. Aloha, DJ.”
This isn’t the first time Dwayne responded to backlash over his Maui relief efforts.