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John Cena first made his name inside the wrestling ring, and has since used that as a launching pad for an acting career.

I doubt he will ever be as successful as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, but then again, very few are.

Dwayne was 2020’s highest-paid actor, pulling in $87,5 million.

Cena’s latest big movie release is the new Fast & Furious movie, F9. As in the ninth movie of the franchise, proving that Hollywood will flog a dead horse, as long as it makes money at the box office.

During an interview with a Taiwanese news outlet earlier this month, he said that the island would be “the first country that can watch” the new film.

That seemingly innocuous statement unleashed the fury in China, with a little backstory from The Daily Beast:

While Taiwan views itself as a democratic, sovereign state after it broke away from China in 1949, the People’s Republic of China believes otherwise, claiming Taiwan is a territory. It has vowed to eventually regain control there, even by force.

So after decades of tension, Chinese nationals were outraged over Cena’s remarks, especially because the 44-year-old is a beloved celebrity there, primarily through his career in the WWE.

With China threatening to boycott the new movie, which has already raked in $135.6 million there, Cena addressed the backlash with his tail between his legs on the popular Chinese social media app Weibo on Tuesday.

His tail really was between his legs, and his apology video makes for genuinely cringe viewing:

Per popular request, here’s Mr. John Cena’s apology video with English subtitles. I kept all the incoherence in the video, as well as the curious absence of what he’s actually apologizing for pic.twitter.com/WmJlRcyOID

— Tony Lin 林東尼 (@tony_zy) May 25, 2021

The wrestler/actor has been studying Mandarin for years, so at least he was well-prepped on that front.

As with most apology videos, the baying for blood continued, with commenters arguing that Cena had never actually said that Taiwan wasn’t a country.

Cena is far from the first high-profile figure to jump through China’s hoops, or cop-out on criticising the country and its terrible human rights record, with LeBron James’ comments back in 2019 seeing him catch heat.

China’s financial muscle means it is able to bully people, and companies, into playing ball. Some examples via CNN:

 In 2018… the Chinese government demanded that American Airlines (AAL), Delta (DAL) and United (UAL) change the way they referred to Taiwan or risk sanctions in China, one of the world’s biggest markets for air travel.

Also that year, hotel group Marriott’s website and app were blocked for a week after it listed Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as separate “countries” in its emails and app…

That’s far from an exhaustive list.

Also, dare to mention the Dalai Lama, who many in China see as a separatist who advocates for Tibetan independence, and you can also end up in hot water.

He’s not alone in saying sorry, but Cena’s apology video is still genuinely embarrassing.

[sources:dailybeast&cnn]