Nobody's perfect — and Megan Fox is no exception. So it comes as no surprise that she's made some iffy statements that nearly tanked her early career.
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00:00Nobody's perfect, and Megan Fox is no exception. But how did comparing Transformers director
00:06Michael Bay to Hitler almost ruin her career? In 2009, Fox gave an interview to Wonderland
00:13magazine and spoke in shockingly unflattering terms about Bay. She said,
00:18"'He's like Napoleon, and he wants to create this insane, infamous,
00:22madman reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to
00:27work for. But when you get him away from set and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy
00:33his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills
00:38at all, and it's endearing to watch him." Fox was removed from the franchise for the
00:43third movie. In an interview with GQ, Bay responded to her claims, saying,
00:48"'I wasn't hurt, because I know that's just Megan. Megan loves to get a response,
00:52and she does it in kind of the wrong way. I'm sorry, Megan. I'm sorry I made you work 12 hours.
00:57I'm sorry that I'm making you show up on time. Movies are not always warm and fuzzy."
01:02But Fox's criticism of Bay didn't stop there. Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2009,
01:07she claimed that as an extra on 2003's Bad Boys 2, she was made to dance underneath a waterfall
01:13in a Stars and Stripes bikini, cowboy hat, and 6-inch heels, despite being 15 years old at the time.
01:20"'I was in 10th grade, so that's sort of a microcosm of how Bay's mind works."
01:25"'Yeah.'"
01:26Unflattering details of Bay's working relationship with Fox turned up in The Guardian around the
01:31same time. According to the outlet, Fox claimed that as part of her audition for Transformers,
01:36Bay had made her wash his Ferrari at his home while he filmed her. But the story doesn't end
01:41there. 2017 saw the rise of the MeToo movement, a grassroots campaign to tackle sexual harassment,
01:48abuse, and gender-based discrimination. As such, many celebrity interactions from before MeToo,
01:54including Fox's interview with Jimmy Kimmel and The Guardian's story about her washing Bay's car,
01:59came to be reappraised in a none-too-positive light.
02:02In 2020, Fox was forced to clarify the public comments she had made years ago,
02:07posting an Instagram statement clarifying that she had, quote,
02:11"...endured some genuinely harrowing experiences in a ruthlessly misogynistic industry."
02:16But she further clarified,
02:17"...when it comes to my direct experiences with Michael,
02:20I was never assaulted or preyed upon in what I felt was a sexual manner."
02:24Bay addressed the comments by posting stills of Fox smiling during her Transformers audition,
02:30and insisted that he was looking forward to working with her again in the future.
02:33Indeed, by this time, Fox had already starred in the 2014 movie
02:37Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which Bay produced.