Los Angeles: Actor Megan Fox called out Hollywood for being "ruthlessly misogynistic", claiming she was mistreated and sexualised initially in her career.
Megan took to Instagram to share a note that clarified some of the stories which have been emerging about the initial stage of her career, according to sources.
"Please hear me when I thank you for your support. But these specific instances were inconsequential in a long and arduous journey along which I have endured some genuinely harrowing experiences in a ruthlessly misogynistic industry," she wrote.
Fox addressed the rumours of her mistreatment by directors Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg.
Talking about the time when Bay asked her to wear a bikini and dance under a waterfall in Bad Boys II, Fox wrote: "I was around 15 or 16 years old when I was an extra in Bad Boys II. There are multiple interviews where I shared the anecdote of being chosen for the scene and the conversations that took place surrounding it. It's important to note however that when I auditioned for ‘Transformers' I was 19 or 20."
She went on to describe her experience auditioning for Transformers while responding to fans who shared that she was taken advantage of.
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"I did 'work' (me pretending to know how to hold a wrench) on one of Michael's Ferrari's during one of the audition scenes. It was at the Platinum Dunes studio parking lot, there were several other crew members and employees present and I was at no point undressed or anything similar. So as far as this particular audition story I was not underaged at the time and I was not made to 'wash' or work on someone's cars in a way that was extraneous from the material in the actual script.
"I hope that whatever opinions are formed around these episodes will at least be seeded in the facts of the events. When it comes to my direct experiences with Michael, and Steven for that matter, I was never assaulted or preyed upon in what I felt was a sexual manner," she added.
The actor hinted at more traumatic experiences in the industry as she teased that there are "many names" that "deserve to be going viral in cancel culture".
"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," she said while ending her note.
Her post came after fans came out to support her after a 2009 interview with Jimmy Kimmel resurfaced on Twitter and went viral.
In the interview, Fox had shared a disturbing story about being sexualised in a Michael Bay film when she was just 15. Instead of calling out the troubled culture, Kimmel, now 52, cracked a joke about her teenage sexuality.
With inputs from IANS
