Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has hit back at critics claiming that victims of last year’s devastating Hawaii wildfires have yet to see “a dime” from his fundraiser, The People’s Fund of Maui.
More than 100 people died in the wildfires, with more than 2200 buildings destroyed.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson booed at WWE event in Las Vegas.
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The People’s Fund of Maui was launched by The Rock and Oprah Winfrey with a $10 million donation after fires ripped through Maui in August 2023.
But social media activist Nick Sortor has claimed that The Rock, who is making a return to professional wrestling with WWE, has failed to deliver the goods, noting that many people in Maui were still struggling in the aftermath of the fires.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Sortor shared footage of Johnson’s recent appearance at a WWE press conference in Las Vegas, where the crowd appeared to be booing the actor.
Sortor claimed the celebrity was being booed for not doing enough to ensure that the money donated to his fund actually made its way to victims.
“CROWD IN VEGAS BOOs ‘THE ROCK’ DEMANDING HE FOLLOW THROUGH WITH AID FOR MAUI,” the footage was captioned.
“Oprah and Dwayne @TheRock Johnson promised TENS OF MILLIONS to the victims of the Maui fires, but many victims still have not seen a dime.
“It looks like the audience is fully AMERICA FIRST and is demanding The Rock and Oprah follow through with their commitment to take care of the people of Lahaina.
“The crowd started booing and chanting ‘MAUI! MAUI! MAUI!’
“MAKE IT HAPPEN!”
A furious Johnson later took to X to refute these claims.
“Our People’s Fund of Maui has already DELIVERED over $50 MILLION DOLLARS to over 8000 survivors who were affected by the fires, and I’m grateful to the bone that we’ve been the primary funders,” Johnson, 51, wrote.
“I typically refrain from responding to toxic, false clickbait garbage like this because I hate dignifying bulls***with a response, but when you use Hawaii’s tragic events to draw attention to yourself I won’t stay quiet.”
The actor, who has family roots in Hawaii, claimed that the booing captured in the video was all part of a WWE “act.”
“I’m playing it up with our crowd as they boo. It’s what we do in our WWE universe, and we all love every second of it,” Johnson explained.
“Hawaii is where I grew up, where I raise my children throughout the year and where my ancestors are buried,” he added.
“These are my Polynesian people and these are OUR American people.
“You can’t imagine how much they are still struggling daily to put their lives back together and take care of each other.”
“Nick, instead of posting bulls*** like this that you know is false, I encourage you to post something positive for Hawaii, for our Polynesian American people.
“Or actually take positive action and come to Hawaii to help out in an uplifting way.
“I’m in Hawaii now, and I guarantee you, you’ll get great content that can actually make a difference in people’s lives.”
In a separate post, Sortor said information had come to light that gave some context to the video footage, indicating that the booing was actually part of a WWE publicity stunt.
But Sortor added that he intended to leave his X post online to give “context to the ongoing dispute between the two of us regarding funding for Maui.”
He added that he would like to work with Johnson and “use our platforms to do good” together.
Sortor, who has more than 313,000 followers on X (The Rock’s has 17.1 million followers), is an independent journalist who, according to his bio, covers “stories MSM (mainstream media) won’t”.
Johnson’s response to Sortor’s initial attack drew praise from his fans.
“Is this dude seriously thinking the crowd booing you in Vegas had anything to do with Hawaii?” one fan wrote.
“As much heat as you’ve been getting this week, everyone stands behind you on this one,” wrote another.
But others called for proof to show the money raised had actually made it to Maui.
“So why not just release where the funds are going publicly and put all of this to rest?” one follower asked.
“To everyone going off at Nick, please remember, he is the one on the ground in Maui. Seeing with his own eyes what’s happening,” wrote another.
“So where’s all the money that The Rock and Oprah raised?
“Why are the people still suffering?”
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