Dwayne Johnson Blasted by ‘Stand By Me’ Star Wil Wheaton as ‘Coward’ for Staying Silent on Politics

Wil Wheaton isn’t mincing words when it comes to Dwayne Johnson‘s political reticence.

“So disappointing to find out he is such a coward,” the Stand By Me actor posted to Threads on Monday, June 29.

Wheaton, 53, was reacting to a Threads post shared shortly before by George Takei, 89, who wrote that Johnson’s comments to Esquire “about wanting to ‘keep my politics to myself’ have divided fans, with some calling out his silence.”

As Globe previously reported, Johnson, 54, addressed the topic at length in Esquire. “What I have learned through experience is that I need to keep — need, not want — the main thing the main thing. And the main thing for me, the thing that in the morning I swing my legs out of bed and I run towards, is creating. It’s art. It’s storytelling. I’ve learned I’m going to keep my politics to myself,” the Smashing Machine actor said.

The former pro wrestler continued in the June profile, “There are moments when, hey, there’s nothing we can’t talk about. If I’m wrong, I’ll tell you I’m wrong. Or if I feel like I got a leg up and this is the right way to go, I’ll share it with you. Politics is omnipresent and it’s forever. I don’t like it. [Laughs.] I hate it at times. I hate the slinging. I hate all the [expletive] that comes with it.”

This isn’t the first time the Moana 2 star‘s political caution has drawn scrutiny. Johnson endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 but later told Fox News he regretted it, saying the endorsement caused “an incredible amount of division in our country. So I realize now going into this election, I’m not going to do that. I wouldn’t do that because my goal is to bring our country together. I believe in that, in my DNA. So in the spirit of that, there’s going to be no endorsement.”