Dwayne Johnson jokes he has to ‘catch up’ with father-of-five James Van Der Beek

By Press Association

June 18 2018, 5:20 am

Dwayne Johnson joked with Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek as he congratulated him on the birth of his fifth child (Isabel Infantes/PA)

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson joked he had to “catch up” with James Van Der Beek as he congratulated the Dawson’s Creek star on the birth of his fifth child.

Van Der Beek, 41, tweeted the former wrestler with a picture of himself cradling his newborn baby, his fifth child with wife Kimberly.

The girl, Gwendolyn, arrived on Friday, the actor confirmed.

.@TheRock newborn challenge… pic.twitter.com/JF9XF2SVdY
— James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) June 17, 2018

The picture was accompanied by the hashtag #NewbornChallenge and father-of-three Johnson, 46, replied to the tongue-in-cheek message, joking he had to “catch up”.

He wrote: “Haha perfect. Congratulations my friend on #5. I got some work to do to catch up. I’ll stay practicing lol. #NewbornChallenge.”

Haha perfect. Congratulations my friend on #5. I got some work to do to catch up. I’ll stay practicing lol. #NewbornChallenge https://t.co/F4GDQKFV9o
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 18, 2018

Van Der Beek, also father to Joshua, six, Olivia, seven, Annabel Leah, four, and two-year-old Emilia, announced the birth of Gwendolyn in a lengthy Instagram post on Sunday.

The American actor, best known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in teen drama Dawson’s Creek, criticised Donald Trump for his controversial policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border.

Thrilled to announce we welcomed a brand new baby girl into the world Friday morning, just in time for #FathersDay 😍 These last few days, as I’ve enjoyed the privilege of making smoothies I know my older kids will like, making my wife red raspberry leaf tea to ease her uterine contractions, spending “boy time” with my son and getting my two year-old down for a nap in the way only I know how… I’ve been heart sick about something. As I write this, kids are being ripped from the arms of their parents. By our government. For the kid’s benefit? No – the opposite – as a purposeful display of cruelty to deter would-be illegal border crossers AND legal asylum seekers (it’s happening to both). And it wouldn’t be honest to wax poetic about my new-baby bliss without speaking up against this atrocity. If we allow our government to de-humanize fathers, and mothers, and children in the name of defending our borders… we’ve lost a huge part what makes those borders worth defending. And even if you don’t believe in karma, or in extending basic human decency to people who didn’t win the geographic birth lottery… even if you’re hard-liner enough to say, “Break the law, suffer the consequences,” shouldn’t the punishment at least fit the crime? And if you’re still cold enough to say, “Well, it’s effective,” consider this: This heinous practice was put into place by our own attorney general (who justified it with a cherry-picked Bible verse), and our president blamed rivals before tweeting his list of legislative demands to be met before he stops it. Regardless of how you feel about immigration, or a wall, or this president… if we say we’re okay with our government using human rights violations as a deterrent or as a bargaining chip… what happens when we find ourselves on the wrong side of the agenda? Either in this administration or the next? This should not be a political issue – it’s a human one. A crime against humanity is a crime against us all. More info in link in my bio. Oh, and @vanderkimberly – you’re a f*cking earth goddess rock star and I’m as in awe of you as I am in love with you. And our new baby’s name is Gwendolyn ❤️ #HappyFathersDay everybody.
A post shared by James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) on Jun 17, 2018 at 12:49pm PDT

Alongside a picture of his young family surrounding their new arrival, he wrote: “As I write this, kids are being ripped from the arms of their parents. By our government. For the kid’s benefit? No – the opposite – as a purposeful display of cruelty to deter would-be illegal border crossers AND legal asylum seekers (it’s happening to both). And it wouldn’t be honest to wax poetic about my new-baby bliss without speaking up against this atrocity.”

The post further criticised Trump before adding: “A crime against humanity is a crime against us all.”

The Democrats should get together with their Republican counterparts and work something out on Border Security & Safety. Don’t wait until after the election because you are going to lose!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2018

On Sunday, as the debate on the issue intensified, the president remained quiet until tweeting that Democrats should work with Republicans on immigration before the midterm elections in five months “because you are going to lose!”.