Dwayne Johnson Demands To Be Removed From Chris Christie Promo Video

Dwayne Johnson, aka “The Rock,” is reportedly none-too-pleased that he was used, without his knowledge, in a promo video posted by New Jersey Governor Chris Christies’ PR team, and is demanding that his name and picture be removed immediately.

The promotional video, entitled “No Pain. No Gain,” was in the style of a movie trailer dealing with pension reform in New Jersey. The video, which was posted on YouTube on July 15, was also a convenient reference to Pain & Gain, a 2013 movie which starred Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg.

Chris Christie’s PR team reacted immediately to Johnson’s request to remove his name and image from the video and promptly edited it. It was reposted the following day and no longer featured Johnson.

Even though Johnson himself is a Republican, he said that he did not want to be directly associated with the video. “I know Gov. Christie. We’ve met a couple of times, but in no way was I associated with what he had going on. He had his team of people around him who kind of put that together. I saw it. I was like well, I don’t have anything to do with it, so now you’ve got to pull it down,” said Johnson in an interview Friday while promoting his new movie Hercules.

The promo included dramatized edits of Chris Christie talking about the debt crisis in his state and then a scene of Johnson walking away from a bomb blast is shown at the end of the clip.

The Rock also added in the interview on Friday that he is friends with politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. “I have good friends who are politicians on both sides. Clinton is a good buddy of mine, Obama is a good buddy of mine. A multitude of people who are buddies,” he said.