UPDATE, Jan. 12: Johnson posted public statements on Twitter and Instagram saying the interview quoted below “never happened.” He says he “never said those words.” This article’s headline has been corrected to reflect his statement.

More:

Settin’ the record straight.

The interview never happened.

Never said those words.

100% false.

If I ever had an issue with someone, a group, community or a generation — I’d seek them… https://t.co/oJdpmfsyCi — Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) January 12, 2019

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson thinks the Snowflake Generation is “looking for a reason to be offended.”

In an interview with the British Daily Star on Friday, Johnson defended freedom of speech, specifically addressing the easily triggered younger generations.

“I don’t have to agree with what somebody thinks, who they vote for, what they voted for, what they think, but I will back their right to say or believe it. That’s democracy,” Johnson said. “If you are not agreeing with them then they are offended — and that is not what so many great men and women fought for.”

The wrestler turned actor was responding to a slew of recent headlines including universities banning clapping because loud noises can be triggering, and the rebranding of cookies to the sex-neutral “Gingerbread People.”

Yet Johnson, who ruled out running for president in 2020 but not entirely, sees today’s world as a better, more tolerant place.

“We thankfully now live in a world that has progressed over the last 30 or 40 years, People can be who they want, be with who they want, and live how they want,” he said. “That can only be a good thing – but generation snowflake or, whatever you want to call them, are actually putting us backwards.”

This is not Johnson’s first, and hopefully not his last, political battle. Consistent with his view on free speech, last year he spoke out in support of protestors kneeling during the national anthem.