Megan Fox may not have been one of the prominent voices in the #MeToo movement, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have something to say. In fact, it was how the public reacted almost ten years ago when the actress first came forward about problematic male behaviour on set (in this instance, director Michael Bay on Transformers) that discouraged her from lending her voice in 2018.
"'Be Hot,'" Fox recalled in a 2009 interview with Wonderland. "I’ve had that note on set before. 'Mike [Bay]' I’ll say, 'Who am I talking to? Where am I supposed to be looking at?' And he responds, 'Just be sexy.' I get mad when people talk to me like that."
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Her comment echoes the stories many actresses have come forward with over the past year, but that's not what grabbed people's attention in a pre-Weinstein world. Instead, readers zeroed-in on a different comment she made about the director, saying Bay "wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is." There was outrage at Fox, not with her, and so when the #MeToo movement came around, she kept her mouth shut.
"I just didn’t think based on how I’d been received by people, and by feminists, that I would be a sympathetic victim," Fox told The New York Times in a recent interview. "And I thought if ever there were a time where the world would agree that it’s appropriate to victim-shame someone, it would be when I come forward with my story."
Fox acquiesced that perhaps her story was "ahead of [her] time," and it's not the first time that phrase has been used in conjunction with the actress. After Refinery29 revisited her film Jennifer's Body, and other publications followed suit, it was determined that the world wasn't ready for what Fox's role had to offer (Roger Ebert referred to the film as "Twilight for boys, with Megan Fox in the Robert Pattinson role, except that I recall Pattinson was shirtless.”).
It's up to Fox if she ever wants to come forward with more a more detailed account of her experiences, though her hesitation is understandable. This time, however, the public is ready to listen.
If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.