Actress Megan Fox made headlines when she officially filed to dismiss her divorce from actor Brian Austin Green in April 2019, per court docs obtained by The Blast. But the Transformers alum was regularly making the rounds in the press a decade ago, when she compared series director Michael Bay to some of history's most notorious dictators, in an interview that nearly destroyed her career.
Fox told Wonderland magazine back in 2009,
"He's like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward."
The actress, who was in her early twenties at the time, then added,
"He has no social skills at all. And it's endearing to watch him."
"This is crazy."
The highly-publicized trash talk naturally had nearly everyone grabbing for the proverbial popcorn. Except, maybe, Steven Spielberg, who not only executive produced the Transformers movies, but also allegedly urged Bay to fire Fox from reprising her role in the franchise's third installment, 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon. That is, according to Bay himself, who told GQ in 2011,
"You know the Hitler thing. Steven [Spielberg] said, fire her right now. I wasn't hurt, because I know that's just Megan. 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 twelve hours. I'm sorry that I'm making you show up on time. Movies are not always warm and fuzzy."
For his part, Spielberg later denied the allegation, telling Entertainment Weekly that December, quote, "That's not true." Meanwhile, Fox's rep had previously shared another version of the events, telling People in 2010,
"It was her decision not to return. She wishes the franchise the best."
"I had not seen Megan for about eight months since Transformers 2, and when I saw her, she just didn't look like Mikaela."
Either way, Fox's high-profile on-screen prospects soon appeared to come to a screeching halt. The Transformers crew had already retaliated by posting an open letter on Bay's website, which called the actress, quote, "dumb as a rock," "Ms. Sourpants," "classless," and an "unfriendly b----," according to Deadline.
Just like that Fox went from fan-favorite movie star, to total box office pariah. In 2017, Fox admitted to Cosmo UK that the whole ordeal was quote, "absolutely the low point of my career."
The actress continued to find work, though, landing roles in indies like Friends With Kids, and a recurring gig on New Girl. And after reportedly apologizing to Bay, she even reuniting with him for 2014's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
As for where Bay and Fox stand these days, it sounds like they're letting bygones be bygones. Fox claimed on Watch What Happens Live in 2018,
"I was young when a lot of that was happening, and I always, I was really self-righteous in my anger."
But she said things changed for her, as she got older.
"I understood regardless of whatever my issues were, they should always have remained private. It's not, you should never blast someone like that in public."
Perhaps in the age of Time's Up and the Me Too movement, the world might have been a bit more sympathetic to what Fox originally had to say about her harsh work environment. She admits the same, telling the New York Times in December 2018,
"I was ahead of my time and so people weren't able to understand. Instead, I was rejected because of qualities that are now being praised in other women coming forward. My words were taken and used against me in a way that was, at that time in my life, at that age and dealing with that level of fame, really painful."
Watch the video for more about The Awful Interview That Nearly Destroyed Megan Fox's Career.
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