The Rock wrestled Big Bertha the ‘swampland gator.’ The photo came back to bite him
A gator-wrestling photo Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson posted on his Instagram has prompted fierce back-and-forth between people slamming the actor for animal cruelty and fans defending the picture as simply fun.
The “Rampage” star posted the photo on Friday. It shows him sitting on top of an alligator he identifies as “Big Bertha.” He’s smiling at the camera as he clamps the animal’s mouth shut with his hands.
“TBT in our beloved Florida Everglades where I tamed Big Bertha — the legendary swampland gator responsible for biting off 7 human arms, 47 toes, 12 truck bumpers and 1 leather fanny pack,” he wrote. “My interpretation of ‘fun’ has always been slightly debatable. Now kindly hold my tequila tea, I gotta gator to wrassle.”
“Uhh dwane you better delete this image there’s tons of people who are starting to hate you because of this photo,” one of his Instagram fans warned him.
Some of the comments on the photo charged the action star of animal cruelty, a somewhat rare misstep for a “pretty well-liked guy,” noted Good Housekeeping.
“Makes me sad to see someone with such a big heart supporting animal abuse,” wrote Terry Paulette.
“Why would you be so cruel to that gator? Come on Dwayne...you’re a leader in this community. Do better. Not cool.” wrote Sheila Chutskoff.
“Agreed,” wrote Instagram user @goldfishwishes. “What a lame photo. I’m so disappointed to see him do this. Uggg.”
“The fact that the animal would likely bite him if he weren’t forcing it’s snout closed would indicate that it isn’t enjoying being forced into this scenario,” wrote Rebeca Maurey. “There is no reason for The Rock to be stressing this creature out other than to take a ‘funny’ pic. (And what do you imagine they did to this animal to get it to submit? It certainly didn’t willingly put itself in this position.)
“I simply don’t believe it’s okay to use animals like this. Why go out of his way to mess this animal without any concern for its well being? There is no way this is a good or healthy thing for it.”
Others defended Johnson and accused people of getting upset over nothing. The photo had earned more than 4.3 million likes as of Monday.
“People who criticized him for this picture are stupid just because he is looks like he is wrestling an alligator good grief it is just a picture for an upcoming movie take a chill pill I’m sure you never criticized the crocodile hunter,” wrote Nancy6684.
“I cant believe the ignorance of people’s comments. Wish I could post rolling eyeballs for you, Rock. I know you didn’t harm Bertha & she looks like she’s smiling for the cam too,” wrote Instagram user Revagbayani.
The picture appears to have been taken at the same time as another photo Johnson posted on Instagram in April explaining his preparation for “Rampage.”
“Gorillas weren’t the only animals I spent time with for my RAMPAGE research,” he wrote. “Luckily, I’m a country boy who lives only a few miles from the swamps of the Florida Everglades.
“I do a lot of fishin’ and truckin’ down here and these gators are some of my favorite fresh water species. They’ve been rompin’ and chompin’ for 37 million years. Incredible animal.. especially once I’m able to calm ‘em, then I’m really able to appreciate up close.”
He added an “important legal disclaimer: If you come across a gator, don’t try doing this. You’ll lose a limb or something much worse. Call the Fish and Wildlife Commission or WorldStar.”
Johnson’s reps didn’t respond to a request for comment about the gator flap from Yahoo Entertainment, which pointed out that the actor also raised hackles in August when he posted a photo of himself with girlfriend, Lauren Hashian, and their 2-year-old daughter, Jasmine, visiting an aquarium.
“At the time, commenters argued that animals should not be kept in captivity,” Yahoo noted.