Megan Fox became an overnight sensation when she blew onto the big screen in the 2007 film Transformers.
This gorgeous woman appeared in the global spotlight seemingly out of nowhere; with her piercing blue eyes, long brown hair, flawless complexion and killer figure.
As if that wasn’t enough to grant her a one-way ticket to Hollywood, she cemented herself as the ultimate celebrity crush of men — and women — all over the world thanks to her portrayal as bad-arse car chick, Mikaela Banes, alongside Shia LaBeouf in the hit film, which made more than $700 million at the global box office.
Despite her obvious acting potential, Fox was immediately typecast as a Sєx symbol. She was dubbed FHM‘s Sexiest Woman in the World in 2008, while the Los Angeles Times described her a “Sєx symbol of the highest order”.
Fans couldn’t get enough of her, as she reprised her role for the hugely-anticipated sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2009.
It all went downhill after that.
Bay claimed Steven Spielberg — the executive producer of the film — pushed for her to be sacked after she made the infamous comments, but Spielberg has challenged this claim.
“He’s like Napoleon, and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation,” Fox told Wonderland magazine in an interview that went viral.
“He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for.”
Not a great move on her behalf as a fresh faced star, and given Bay’s experience in the industry, his response to her words was smart and made Fox seem like an ungrateful brat. It worked.
“I wasn’t hurt because I know that’s just Megan,” he told GQ in 2011.
“Megan loves to get a response. And she does it in kind of the wrong way.
“I’m sorry, Megan. I’m sorry I made you work 12 hours. I’m sorry that I’m making you show up on time. Movies are not always warm and fuzzy.”
You can see why Bay came out of this saga smelling like roses.
Once an acclaimed director discredited a woman, she was dunzo — a big reason why it has taken so long for females to find their voices in tinsel town.
Unfortunately Fox didn’t have fans on her side either. She wasn’t a good victim in the eyes of feminists. A lot of people wanted to find something to dislike about this perfect goddess.
But there was a lot more to this story that Hollywood chose to ignore at the time. A time before #MeToo.
Fox’s “Hitler” comment was understandably the only thing the world’s media took from that interview. It was off the mark and hopefully she learnt a valuable lesson. She was only 24, after all.
But unearthing the rest of her quotes, it’s pretty horrifying to think they weren’t taken seriously either.
When asked (a pretty rude question) by Wonderland magazine if “being a better actor matters if you’re just really H๏τ?”, an understandably annoyed Fox gave an insight into what it was like working for Bay.
“Yeah, it does matter. Not to Michael Bay because those are literally his directions sometimes. ‘Be Hot’,” she said.
“I’ve had that note on set before. ‘Mike,’ I’ll say, ‘Who am I talking to? Where am I supposed to be looking at?’ And he responds, ‘Just be Sєxy.’ I get mad when people talk to me like that.”
Her issues with Bay span before this drama, way back to when she was 15 years old and playing an extra on Bad Boys II.
Fox told Jimmy Kimmel that Bay wanted her in a ʙικιɴι and six-inch heels for the club scene.
“We were shooting this club scene, and they brought me in, and I was wearing a stars and stripes ʙικιɴι and a red cowboy hat, and six-inch heels,” Fox said.
“And they took me to Mike and he approved it. And they said, ‘You know, Michael, she’s 15, so you can’t sit her at the bar and she can’t have a drink in her hand.’
“So his solution to that problem was to then have me dancing underneath a waterfall getting soaking wet. And that’s … At 15. I was in 10th grade. So that’s sort of a microcosm of how Bay’s mind works.”
In an article published in 2009 by The Observer, journalist Jason Solomons details Fox’s audition for Transformers.