I’m sure you know all about Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock. He’s the star of many, many massive movies, and he’s been around for YEARS.
But what you may not know about the actor is exactly where he stands politically — and it turns out there’s a reason for that.
Dwayne recently sat down for an interview with Esquire, in which the topic of Bruce Springsteen’s “overtly political” “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour came up. This prompted the interviewer to question Dwayne about his approach to discussing politics — or, in his case, not discussing politics.
After requesting a moment to “think about” his response, Dwayne explained that he doesn’t want to complicate his public identity as a movie star by getting political. “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,” he said. “I’ve learned I’m going to keep my politics to myself.”
Despite the fact that Dwayne jokes later in the interview about the suggestion of him running for president, he said he doesn’t “like” politics. “Politics is omnipresent and it’s forever. I don’t like it,” he confessed. “I hate it at times. I hate the slinging. I hate all the bullshit that comes with it.”
Using Springsteen’s vocal criticism of Donald Trump as an example, Dwayne suggested it would be better if the two men would sit down face-to-face and talk it out. “When I hear you talk about Springsteen, who I love, and this idea that he’s speaking directly to Trump in his concerts, my first thought as you were telling me that, in my head, I went, Oh, then why don’t they talk?” he said. “They should sit down and talk. I don’t know where that goes, but I do know that’s an important step.”
In the current political climate, a celebrity publicly distancing themselves from politics isn’t a good look. And Dwayne’s “spineless” comments have certainly prompted some criticism, with fans calling out that “silence is complicity.”
“I wonder what these celebrities think coming out as ‘not political’ makes them look,” one Reddit user questioned, “because really it makes them look incredibly cowardly.” Another suggested that, “if you aren’t saying anything, then you are complicit with MAGA and their leader.”
Speculating about Dwyane’s motives, another user wrote: “It’s so clear that his only goal is to have the largest possible audience and alienate the fewest possible people… His films are simultaneously for everyone and no one. He wants to be thought of as Mr. Protagonist by no less than 8 billion people. He’s upset that he’d lose a single paying customer by denouncing fascism. Those are his priorities, plain and simple.”
Despite Dwayne’s confession that he hates politics, his quotes have sparked speculation about what his true beliefs might be. “I have never heard of any liberal/left person keeping it private,” one user suggested. “It’s like guys on dating apps who say they’re moderate or apolitical because they learned they won’t get laid if they admit they’re conservatives.” Another wrote that his comments sound like “every Republican I know that is secretly embarrassed.”
For what it’s worth — and as many critics have brought up — this isn’t the first time that Dwayne’s political views have been brought into question. During a 2024 appearance on Fox News, the actor expressed regret about endorsing Joe Biden in 2020, saying that he wasn’t “happy with the state of America.”
“The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was what I thought was the best decision for me at that time. Am I going to do that again this year? That answer’s no. I’m not going to do that,” he said. “Because what I realized that what that caused back then was something that tears me up in my guts back then and now, which is division. And that got me.”
“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,” he added. “Not that I’m afraid of it at all, but it’s just… I’m gonna keep my politics to myself, and I think it’s between me and the ballot box. But I will tell you this, like a lot of us out there, not trusting of all politicians, I do trust the American people, and I trust whoever they vote for that is my president and who I will support 100 percent.”
