Megan Fox has an undeniable dark side. From blood-drinking rituals to her struggles with body dysmorphia and underage exploitation, her story paints a chilling picture. So, how did this promising actress derail her entire career? Dive into these facts—and find out for yourself.
1. She Had A Strict Upbringing
Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, little Megan Fox had a childhood that might surprise some. A child of divorce, she had her sister had an extremely strict and religious upbringing. Her mother forbade her from inviting friends over and boyfriends were simply out of the question. However, this was only the least of her worries.
2. She Wasn’t Popular
Fox wasn't the kind of student who breezed through school effortlessly. Although destined to play the “popular girl” in her Hollywood films, Fox was actually something of a loner. In middle school, her peers tormented her ruthlessly. So much so, that Megan would hide in the bathroom to eat her lunch, afraid of being “pelted with ketchup packets”. Oh, and it gets worse.
3. Her Classmates Hated Her
Sadly, high school was not a step up for poor Fox. She later confessed, “…everyone hated me, and I was a total outcast, my friends were always guys, I have a very aggressive personality, and girls don’t like me for that”. Along with her deep resentment for her classmates, Fox was also fed up with the entire education system. And that’s when her rebellious nature kicked in.
4. She Ended Up In Court
Growing up in such a conservative household, it wasn’t long before Fox began breaking some of the rules. In her mid-teens, Fox began to casually shoplift makeup from the local Wal-Mart. It was all fun and games, that is, until she got caught redhanded. She even ended up in court where she had two punishments to choose from—and one of them was downright humiliating.
5. She Faced A Humiliating Punishment
To learn her lesson, Megan Fox had to either wear a sign reading “I stole from Wal-Mart” and stand outside the store for three days, or wrap Christmas gifts. It was a no-brainer: She chose to wrap gifts. However, did this stop her from causing trouble? Absolutely not. Fox still had to grapple with her parents’ annoying “no dating” rule—but she found a naughty way around it.
6. She Wasn’t Allowed To Date
Fox cunningly circumvented the restrictions that governed her life. She’d sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and take her mother’s car, just so that she could meet up with boys. But while Fox chased after trouble, she also chased after her dreams. At a very young age, she discovered a very real passion for drama and dance—and she found it in one of the most unlikely places.
7. She Found Her Passion
When she was only five years old, Fox watched a film that started it all—The Wizard of Oz. “When my mom explained to me that Dorothy was not real, that an actress plays her, I decided I wanted to be an actress”. From then on, performing became a huge part of Fox’s life—and she didn’t have to wait long to see her dreams transform into reality.
Picryl
8. She Was A Stunner
When she was 13 years old, a life-changing chapter of Fox’s life began. Already blooming into a beautiful young woman, her stunning looks won her an early start in modeling and acting. In 2001, Hollywood came calling, but it wasn’t long before Megan Fox learned a very hard lesson. There was a disturbing side to the industry, and as a gorgeous young girl, she was most susceptible to its dangers.
9. She Saw Hollywood’s Dark Side
After Fox’s debut role in Holiday in the Sun, she had her first brush with the dark side of Hollywood. At the age of 15, she auditioned for Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II. Bay loved her look, but once she got on set, the experience went from exciting to troubling in no time at all. Playing an extra at a nightclub, Megan Fox was about to be objectified in the worst way imaginable.
Holiday in the Sun (2001 Video),Warner Home Video
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10. She Was Too Young
The production dressed 15-year-old Fox in an outrageous outfit: She wore a Stars-and Stripes Bikini, a red cowboy hat, and six-inch heels. Michael Bay approved of her alluring look—but there was only one problem. Because Fox was underage, he couldn’t sit her at a bar and she wasn’t allowed to hold a drink. That’s when he came up with the most despicable solution.
11. She Faced Exploitation
Having already dressed a minor in such a skimpy outfit, it might not be too surprising that Michael Bay decided to go the extra mile. He made Megan Fox dance underneath a waterfall and get completely soaked. Although she was paid only $500 for her brief appearance, it was an uncomfortable moment that really stuck with her.
In fact, when it came to her working relationship with Bay, this was only the beginning of the nightmare.
Bad Boys II (2003), Columbia Pictures
12. She Shared A Troubling Story
In a 2009 interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Megan Fox told her story about being sexualized by Michael Bay on the set of Bad Boys II. When the crowd started laughing, she drove the point home, saying, “At 15. I was in tenth grade. So that's a microcosm of how Bay's mind works”. Clearly, Fox was trying to share her very troubling story, but Kimmel’s reaction was chilling.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003– ), ABC
13. She Didn’t Like His Response
After learning that Michael Bay exploited an underage Megan Fox, Jimmy Kimmel joked, “Well that’s really a microcosm of how all our minds work". Yikes. NOPE. This clearly wasn’t the response Fox was looking for. With a pained look on her face, she cringes and looks out at the audience. Shockingly, nobody really criticized the interview...but that wouldn’t always be the case.
14. Her Fans Came To Her Defense
In 2020, the Kimmel interview resurfaced—and the host's lighthearted jokes surrounding Fox’s story appalled many new viewers. Twitter users dragged Kimmel through the mud, one tweeting, “What an utterly disgusting take by Kimmel. Why is, ‘I'm so sorry that happened to you’, something that is beyond his imagination to say. Instead he offers, ‘We all have those thoughts, but we repress them’. God…she was 15. Who the Hell is ‘We’"?
But that might not even be the most upsetting part.
15. She Set The Record Straight
Once the internet blew up with fans rushing to Megan Fox’s defense, she decided that she needed to set the record straight. In a way, she even defended Michael Bay, saying that it was all “inconsequential” compared to the other “genuinely harrowing experiences” she’d experienced in the industry. That, however, only makes us wonder, what other horrors has the actress endured?
16. She Was A Fantasy
As most know, Megan Fox’s real breakout role was in Michael Bays’ action flick Transformers. Thankfully, by this time, Fox was around 19 years old—but her performance as Micaela Banes captivated male audiences like no other. Dressed in a tiny pink top and miniskirt and playing a teenage mechanic, Fox’s performance does just what the director intended. She is a fantasy come to life.
However, she could have never foreseen just how powerful this role would make her.
Transformers (2007), DreamWorks
17. She Was The Most Beautiful Woman
Transformers changed everything for Megan Fox. Almost overnight, she became a household name and was even heralded as “the first bona fide sex symbol of the 21st century”. Soon, she was everywhere: gracing the covers of magazines and finding herself included in lists like Maxim’s Hot 100. It was a lot of pressure for such a young actress, but Fox had a very unique way of handling her new celebrity status.
18. She Hides Her True Self Away
Megan Fox has acknowledged that she—along with many other Hollywood actresses—is marketed as a femme fatale. However, she believes that, as long as women know to use this to their advantage, this is okay. In fact, to cope with this, she’s manufactured her public persona, keeping her true self as private as possible.
She has, however, found an excellent way to express herself.
19. She Had A Telling Tattoo
At the age of 19, Fox began to decorate her body with tattoos that were meaningful to her. Early in her career, her most distinguishable tattoo was one of Marilyn Monroe’s face on her forearm. One author even argued that it reflected her “implicit claims to Monroe’s legacy as Hollywood’s leading sex symbol”. However, years later, the tattoo disappeared—and for an interesting reason.
20. She Didn't Want The Negativity
Eventually, Megan Fox reassessed her Monroe tattoo and decided to have it removed with laser surgery. Why? Well, she believed that Marilyn Monroe's harrowing life story was chock full of negativity and she didn’t want her own life to follow the same dark path. However, no matter how hard Megan Fox tried to lead a positive life, she couldn’t escape her fair share of controversy.
21. She Clashed With Her Director
After catapulting to stardom with Transformers, Megan Fox continued to work with Michael Bay. But off-screen, their relationship was anything but sunny. Before the filming of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Fox and Bay began to butt heads over the director’s working methods. In fact, their disagreements became so heated, Bay lashed out—and made a drastic decision.
22. She Lashed Out
Although Megan Fox’s role in Transformers was a big draw for audiences, the director decided to cut her character from the fourth instalment, effectively firing her. And it wasn’t long before the gossip-worthy details came to light. In a later interview, Fox notoriously ranted about Michael Bay’s behavior: “He’s like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation…”
Then she went even further.
23. She Called Him Out
Bashing her director was one thing, but Fox also went straight for the jugular: She compared Bay to the infamous mustachioed German leader from WWII. Yeah, him. This was nothing short of scandalous and invited a maelstrom of criticism. However, she had one last bone to pick with her old director—and yes, it was one heck of a doozy.
24. She Was Just A Pretty Face To Him
On top of pegging Bay as a controlling force behind the camera, Fox also painted his direction style as anti-feminist. She explained how, whenever she looked for proper feedback or advice, Bay’s response would always fall short. He’d simply tell her, “just be sexy”. Her comments undoubtedly cast a shadow over Bay’s reputation—and he definitely had a comeback for her.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), DreamWorks
25. She Endured The Backlash
In 2011, Michael Bay opened up about Megan Fox in a GQ Magazine interview. He said, “I wasn’t hurt, because I know that’s just Megan. Megan loves to get a response”. But the cherry on top? His extremely sarcastic tone when giving her a mock apology: “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”.
But this wasn’t the only criticism Fox faced.
26. She Had Haters
No doubt, there were many Megan Fox haters on the loose (AKA eager Michael Bay defenders). There was even an anonymous letter that was supposedly from three Transformers’ crew members that refuted Fox’s claims. However, scholar Marc DiPaolo’s criticism of Fox was perhaps even more scathing. He set out to paint the actress as a hypocrite for speaking out.
27. Her Critics Tore Her Apart
Because Megan Fox’s fame is largely due to her image as a Hollywood temptress, DiPaolo believed that her criticism of the objectification of women flew in the face of her status as a sex symbol. According to him, this is what truly stifled her career. Because, although Megan Fox ruled on high throughout the 2000s, these particular controversies derailed her success.
However, her time in Hollywood isn’t the only rollercoaster in her life…Her private romances have had some soaring highs and devastating lows.
28. She Liked An Older Man
When she was 18, Megan Fox met the 30-year-old actor Brian Austin Green. However, their significant age gap posed a bit of a problem. Apparently, she had to prove that she was mature enough to date him: “I had to convince him that I was slightly more responsible and well-spoken and had other things to bring to the table besides being 18". But this wasn’t all she revealed.
29. She Fell In Love At First Sight
Fox and Green’s meet-cute was nothing short of electric. Crossing paths on the television show Hope & Faith, Fox felt an immediate attraction to her handsome co-star. She later reminisced, “Everyone was sort of gathered around the monitors watching playback from his scene, and he accidentally grazed my leg with his hand. I felt electric shocks go through my body, so I figured that meant something”.
However, considering Fox’s later comments, her feelings for Green were no doubt a downright miracle.
30. She Isn't As Wild As You Think
Despite being cast in seductive roles, Fox’s personal life isn’t quite as spicy as some may think. After she began dating Green, she admitted that he was the only partner she’d ever been physically intimate with. And while the public may have pegged her down as “wild and crazy,” Fox actually preferred staying home over going out. However, that’s not to say she doesn’t have some contentious opinions.
31. She Doesn't Trust Men
Despite her long-term relationship with Brian Austin Green, Megan Fox had admitted that she has a deep distrust for most men. But that’s not all. In 2009, she confessed, that although she’s bi, she would never date a bi woman because they also sleep with men: “…men are so dirty that I’d never want to sleep with a girl who had slept with a man”.
32. Her Marriage Was In Jeopardy
In 2010, Fox and Green tied the knot after a very long and rocky engagement. Four years later, they had two beautiful sons, Noah and Bodhi—but not everything was peachy-keen. The sad reality of it all was that her marriage was headed straight for the deep end. In 2015, it all came to a head, and Fox finally filed for divorce. However, not long after, the unthinkable transpired.
33. She Called It Off
With an impending breakup in her future, Megan Fox shocked everyone with a pregnancy announcement. At first, whispers of scandal abounded. Who was the father? Well, the answer was simple. Fox and Green had mended their differences and called off the divorce. But not even another child could save this relationship from its inevitable doom.
34. She Wasn't Out Of The Woods
By 2020, Megan Fox’s marriage finally bit the dust. But while their separation seemed more than amicable, there were still troubled waters ahead. That autumn, the couple’s behind-the-scenes drama came to light on social media when Green posted a Halloween picture of their son Journey to Instagram. Fox, preferring to keep their sons’ lives private, was not happy.
35. She Publicly Chastised Him
Ah yes, Megan Fox served up a little drama in the comment section. She shot back at her ex-husband, with part of her comment reading, "Why does Journey have to be in this picture? It's not hard to crop them out...You're so intoxicated with feeding the pervasive narrative that I'm an absent mother, and you are the perennial, eternally dedicated dad of the year".
Her criticism definitely had the desired effect.
36. She Found A New Beau
Fox's call-out caused Green to sheepishly delete the photo from his feed and repost it without his son Journey in the frame. But while Megan Fox struggled in the co-parenting department, she seemed to be effortlessly navigating her wide-open dating life. Not long after separating from Green, Fox began sparking romance rumors—and her new beau seemed to be a real contrast to her first love.
37. She Asks The Hard Questions
Megan Fox met musician and actor Machine Gun Kelly on the set of her 2020 film Midnight in the Switchgrass. And after getting a taste of some red-hot chemistry, the actress dove into a new relationship with her entire heart and soul. She wanted to know everything about Kelly and asked personal questions right off the bat, like whether his mother breastfed him or not.
To her, this was a brilliant question, explaining, "It has a lot to do with your psychology and your temperament, so I ask things like that". But the intensity of their tender beginnings was only the tip of the iceberg.
38. She Put Her Heart On The Line
Megan Fox did not hold back when it came to her relationship with Machine Gun Kelly, confessing that she wanted to "go deep right away". And boy, did they ever. Only months after getting engaged in January 2022, the couple began to make headlines for a rather disturbing reason—and it involved the consumption of one another's bodily fluids...
39. She Drinks His Blood
Behind closed doors, Fox and Kelly engage in some questionable rituals where they drink each other's blood. Yes, you read that right. Unsurprisingly, the media sensationalized this gruesome bit of news. Her jaw-dropping statement read, "When I do it, it's a passage or it is used for a reason. And it is controlled where it's like, 'Let's shed a few drops of blood and each drink it'..."
But that wasn't the most unsettling part.
40. Her Partner Takes It Too Far
While trying to downplay this blood-drinking fiasco, Fox went on to reveal that Kelly takes it a little too seriously: "He is much more haphazard and hectic and chaotic, where he's willing to just cut his chest open with broken glass and be like 'Take my soul'". However, Fox was getting herself into far more than private rituals, and it was only a matter of time before Kelly's true demons came out.
41. She Left Him Alone
In Kelly's Life in Pink documentary, he told a chilling story. Apparently, when Fox traveled to Bulgaria to star in a movie, the musician became overcome with crippling paranoia. He couldn't leave his room and started to believe that somebody was out to get him. But the horror didn't end there. Completely tormented, Kelly eventually "snapped".
42. She Witnessed His Breakdown
In the midst of his breakdown, Kelly called Fox and completely freaked out at her. He told her, "You aren't here for me". But that wasn't the worst part. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he went so far as to put a barrel in his mouth. He even had it cocked and ready to go, but luckily, it jammed. Throughout this entire debacle, Fox remained utterly "silent" on the phone.
However, Kelly isn't the only one who struggles with his mental health.
43. She Struggles With Her Body Image
Although considered one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood, Megan Fox still struggles with her body image. In an interview for British GQ, she shared that she has body dysmorphia and "a lot of deep insecurities". This hearkens all the way back to her childhood after family problems marred her innocence. And it seems like she's been carrying the burden ever since.
44. She Had A Severe Eating Disorder
Megan Fox's insecurities manifested in a heartbreaking way: "I developed a pretty severe eating disorder and manic depression, which runs in my family..." This caused her to spiral into dangerous territory. As we all know, many know Megan Fox for her looks first and her acting talent second. As her fame grew, she became increasingly disheartened by the public's opinion of her intellect.
45. She Despises Peoples' Misconceptions
Fox hated the fact people assumed she was dumb. In fact, when she was young, it was her brains and not her beauty that made her stand out. She confessed, "When I was growing up, being smart was the only thing that I felt was a strong suit for me. I never resonated with being pretty or being popular, I was none of those things".
46. She Feels Worthless
Megan Fox has constantly struggled with her image in Hollywood. In 2010, her Transformers co-star Shia LaBoeuf shared that Fox really "struggled" with the lusty framing of her character. There seems to be a distinct line drawn between Fox's opinion of herself and how the world sees her—and it's driven her to make the most depressing comments.
She once said, "I never think I’m worthy of anything...I have a sick feeling of being mocked all the time. I have a lot of self-loathing".
Transformers (2007), DreamWorks
47. She Battles All The Rumors
For the past two decades, the media has criticized every inch of Megan Fox, from her "toe thumbs" to rumors about plastic surgery. All the sensational gossip always honed in on her appearance. Most notably, when Fox first took the industry by storm, the press dubbed her the "next Angelina Jolie," which she absolutely despised. And here's why.
48. She Resents The Comparisons
Quick to draw comparisons, the media saw many similarities between Fox and Jolie. Both of them were beautiful, tattooed brunettes, who had penchants for curse words and speaking openly about their bedroom habits. However, Fox believed that these superficial indicators proved that the media lacked any creativity. And that's when the critics came out to play.
49. Her Career Plummeted
A writer from The New York Times controversially shared the opinion that Fox was intentionally "creating entertaining copy" and "linking herself to Jolie". No matter what, Megan Fox rarely seemed to make the right move. And perhaps even worse? Even today, her success in Hollywood has failed to rival Angelina Jolie's in any way.
The harsh reality is that Fox is no longer a leading lady. However, despite a journey dotted with disappointment after disappointment, Fox does have one anchor to cling to.
50. Her Children Saved Her
According to Fox, getting pregnant and becoming a mother shifted her perspective in the right direction. With the arrival of every child, she was able to harness a happiness that had always managed to escape her. When discussing motherhood, Fox shared, "I feel like that's always been the doorway to a better version of myself".
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