Megan Fox Says She Was 'Never Preyed Upon' By Michael Bay

An interview clip from Megan Fox's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2009 recently resurfaced and sparked a discussion about misogyny and the #MeToo movement in Hollywood. In the clip, Fox recalled that her audition to be an extra in the film Bad Boys II required her to wear a "stars and stripes bikini and a red cowboy hat and, like, six-inch heels."

Fox was ultimately cast as an extra, however, she wasn't able to sit at the bar in the scene because she was just 15-years-old at the time. When the film's director, Michael Bay, was told of Fox's age, he decided to have her "dancing underneath a waterfall getting soaking wet" instead sitting at the bar. Host Jimmy Kimmel responded to the story by telling Fox that anecdote is a "microcosm of how all [mens'] minds work."

After the clip went viral, Fox took to Instagram to address speculation that she was mistreated by Bay, especially when Fox went on to work with him on the Transformers franchise. "I know that a discussion has erupted online surrounding some of my experiences in Hollywood and the subsequent mishandling of this information by the media and society in general," Fox's statement reads.

"When it comes to my direct experiences with Michael, I was never assaulted or preyed upon in what I felt was a sexual manner," Fox clarified. The now 34-year-old actress told fans she wanted to "clarify some details as they have been lost in the retelling of the events and cast a sinister shadow that doesn't really, in my opinion, belong."

While Fox denies being "preyed upon" by Bay, she also shared that she did undergo a number of "horrifying" misogynistic experiences as a young actress in Hollywood. "There are many names that deserve to be going viral in cancel culture right now, but they are safely stored in the fragmented recesses of my heart," she wrote. "I'm thankful to all of you who are brave enough to speak out and I'm grateful to all of you who are taking it upon yourselves to support, uplift, and bring comfort to those who have been harmed by a violent and toxic societal paradigm."

Fox left the Transformers franchise after the 2009 sequel due to behind-the-scenes conflicts with Bay and Steven Spielberg.

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