Paul Walter Hauser is apologizing for “dogging” on Vin Diesel.
The I, Tonya actor made headlines in June after taking shots at Diesel, 56, in an interview while promoting his new movie, Inside Out 2. When a reporter compared his character Embarrassment to Diesel’s Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy series, Hauser responded, “Please don’t say that. I like to think I’m on time. And approachable.”
“I love people but when I hear stories about Hollywood actors who get paid really well and mistreat people, I out them constantly. And it’s a blast,” Hauser added.
However, Hauser, 37, admits he was overly unkind to his fellow Hollywood star.
“I was exhausted and, in my fatigued state, I shot my mouth off and made a careless, needlessly mean-spirited, comment,” the Emmy winner shared via Instagram on Sunday, July 7.
“Just here to say that I am sorry for having made that comment. I do indeed get riled up by some of the behavior I’ve witnessed, or heard about, and ‘outing’ people to any extent can feel momentarily satiating,” Hauser continued his lengthy apology, which was shared alongside a quote from the Bible about leading a “quiet life.”
Hauser went on to write, “I no longer feel that way and am genuinely sorry for shooting my mouth off and not showing love to Vin, who I do not know and have never met. It isn’t fair of me to make judgments of that kind, and even if some of those things turned out to be true, it is mean to shout them out and playfully attack someone.”
Addressing the Fast & Furious star directly, Hauser wrote: “@vindiesel – I apologize. Thank you for entertaining so many people and making them happy. I’m trying to do the same.”
Diesel has not publicly responded to Hauser’s comments or his apology.
While Hauser and Diesel have not worked together before, Diesel infamously clashed with costar Dwayne Johnson on the Fast & Furious franchise. In 2016, Johnson called out some of his costars via Instagram while shooting the eighth movie in the series, prompting speculation that he was talking about Diesel.
In 2021, Johnson said he regretted making the conflict so public. “It wasn’t my best day, sharing that,” he told Vanity Fair. “I shouldn’t have shared that. Because at the end of the day, that goes against my DNA. I don’t share things like that. And I take care of that kind of bulls—t away from the public. They don’t need to know that. That’s why I say it wasn’t my best day.”
