Negative publicity isn’t something Dwayne Johnson has become accustomed to during his lengthy stint at the top of the Hollywood A-list, making it bizarrely ironic that spending $5 million of his own money has ended up creating an online firestorm that doesn’t appear to be subsiding.
Having recently partnered with Oprah Winfrey to launch a relief fund for those affected by the Maui wildfires, The Rock opened the doors to widespread scorn from all corners of the internet after asking regular folks to contribute whatever they can, hardly the greatest of optics from somebody who has an estimated net worth of $800 million while still being decidedly less wealthy than his collaborator.
He did sort of address the criticism by offering a platitude that never really said anything, before the sales pitch for his latest line of sneakers that retail for around $100 a pair saw the fury ignite all over again. As fate would have it, then, the actor and producer has been at the hard sell for his latest business endeavor on Instagram by revealing his ZOA energy drink has moved into the pre-workout powder game, only for one of the top comments to reply by asking “How about you deliver some supplies to Hawaii?”
Almost every single one of Johnson’s social media posts dating back weeks have ended up being hijacked in one way or another, making it abundantly clear the discontent over his dealings with Oprah isn’t going to be going away, especially when he decides to shill his own products in the meantime.