She became a household name after landing the part of Mikaela Banes in the 2008 Michael Bay-directed flick Transformers, but after making some questionable comments about the filmmaker two years later, the actress’ career had taken a major fall.
She had told Wonderland magazine: “He [Bay] 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.”
Soon after her comments were made, the mother-of-two found herself blackballed from Hollywood as the blockbuster movie deals were no longer on the table, nor was there any demand for the Tennessee star, who was once called “the hottest actress” in showbiz.
What Happened After?
It was reported that Steven Spielberg, who was an executive producer on the Transformers movies, insisted that Bay fire Fox for her not-so-nice comments about his longtime colleague and industry peer.
To think that Megan thought it was a good idea by making a light-hearted joke about dictatorship and inserting Adolf Hilter in that context was definitely a bad look.
Many felt that - even if she was joking - Bay had given her a major opportunity and platform to become (what many thought) the next Angelina Jolie, but to tarnish his brand and reputation by referring to the director as Hitler certainly wasn’t going to sit well with a lot of people.
Though he was said to have fired Megan for her comments - purely out of his respect for Spielberg - Bay claimed that he wasn’t too offended by the remarks during an interview with GQ, insisting that he didn’t take it to heart knowing that the Jennifer’s Body star was still new to the business.
Granted, she has landed several roles after Transformers, but nothing to the extend of being part of a franchise that generated billions of dollars at the box office.
“I wasn’t hurt, because I know that’s just Megan,” he gushed. “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.”
Following a short-lived run at the box office with blockbuster flicks, Fox was back to working on small indie films, which were still enjoyable to watch, but fans couldn’t help but think that the woman who has once deemed the hottest star in Hollywood had ultimately been disregarded for making an insensitive joke about a powerful director.
In 2017, Fox recalled that period being the “low point of [her] career.”
Her career had made a drastic shift and so had people’s perception of the talented 34-year-old, who had somewhat become famous for being the “hot girl” who made a bad comment about her director and ultimately got blackballed.
Speaking about getting through what she described as one of the most difficult times in her life, Fox told Cosmopolitan: “But without – ‘that thing’, I wouldn’t have learned as quickly as I did. All I had to do was apologize - and I refused.
I was so self-righteous at 23, I couldn’t see [that] it was for the greater good. I really thought I was Joan of Arc.”
By 2014, things were starting to look up again for her when landed the role of April O’Neal in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which, in case fans weren’t aware, was produced by none other than Michael Bay.
Given that Megan had apologized to the latter for her comments in the 2009 interview with Wonderland, Michael never took issue with the actress after that - it was more about the people attached to Transformers, such as Spielberg, who acted as an executive producer - that wanted her fired from the franchise.
The fact that Bay approved the casting of Fox in TMNT showed that there was no bad blood between the two, and given the success that came with the family film, which grossed an incredible $485 million at the box office, the pair teamed up again for a follow-up two years later with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Fox then had a recurring role on New Girl from 2016 to 2017, and she recently starred in her boyfriend Machine Gun Kelly’s music video for his single Bloody Valentine.
The two will be starring together in the forthcoming thriller, Midnight in the Switchgrass, with Hollywood vet Bruce Willis. A release date for the project has yet to be announced.