There was a golden period in Dwayne Johnson’s life — whatever he touched became a franchise, and his self-proclaimed status of being a “hard worker” was lauded without anyone batting an eyelash. But these days, we are learning how his problematic habits — that may or may not include a pee-culiar hobby — have literally put Amazon MGM’s Red One’s budget on the rocks.
Back in 2021, while promoting Black Adam and excitedly hinting about the chances of him fighting Superman in it, Johnson shared many details (with Esquire) like how he desired to be the next James Bond, his extensive exercise regime, and oh, of course, doubled down on the cringey 2017 detail in one of his Instagram reels — how he pees in used bottles, because somehow the gyms Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson uses don’t have the required facilities.
Um, ok. But that’s so 2021, right?
If a recent exclusive exposé by The Wrap is to be believed, this “fad” of his never really went out of style for him. While the article majorly focuses on the many consistent tales of the Jumanji actor’s hobby of arriving hours late to film sets — so late that Red One’s budget has worryingly ballooned to accommodate his tardiness — it sheds an uncomfortable light on his preference to pee in a Voss water bottle even while on sets that, unless they were trying to replicate the ancient times, probably had well-functioning facilities.
Sources who spoke at length about The Rock’s penchant for being concerningly late included Red One as the latest in the timeline of how far this costly (for production houses) habit goes, and Johnson’s preference to pee in a bottle — a Voss water bottle, to be precise — rather than in a public toilet has been shared as an additional horror story, one that has also haunted productions before the Amazon MGM project.
“On set, away from his trailer, if he needs to pee, he doesn’t go to the public bathroom. He pees in a Voss water bottle and his team or a PA has to dispose of it.”
But like every other glaring statement made about the actor in the article — allegedly using Red Notice’s budget to float his production company, lack of professionalism, his lateness causing the budget of Red One to rise up to $250 million, etc — this weird personal choice of Johnson’s being forced on the crew members has also been denied. The swift refusal doesn’t come from anyone associated with the “previous films” that supposedly faced this, but from two people close to the production on the Amazon MGM endeavor, who have stressed that the WWE star would “never ask” another person to dispose of a bottle of his urine.
Now, unless Johnson confirms it all himself — that he handed out these..um … special assignments to the unsuspecting souls who worked hard on the sets of Red One, or that he has made coming late his signature style — nothing can be said for sure. What can be said with certainty is that the young Amazon MGM studio is already facing an uphill hike in establishing itself in the market — first the massive delay in Red One’s production and release due to the writers’ and actors’ strike in 2023 and Johnson’s long list of existing engagements, then its fallout with Road House director Doug Liman.
And now this? At best, they are just rumors but are still conjuring negative reactions. At worst? Oh, boy.
