ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is facing backlash over a joke he made in an interview with actress Megan Fox about director Michael Bay’s interaction with her when she was 15 years old. Fox later took to social media to deny ever having been “preyed upon” by Bay.
“I had just turned 15, and I was an extra in Bad Boys II,” said Fox, now 34, to Kimmel. “They were shooting this club scene, and they brought me in, and I was wearing a stars and stripes bikini and a red cowboy hat, and like 6 inch heels.”
“And he approved it, and they said, ‘You know, Michael, she’s 15, so you can’t sit her at the bar and she can’t have a drink in her hand.’ So his solution to that problem was to then have me dancing underneath the waterfall, getting soaking wet,” the Transformers star said.
Watch below:
clip from 2009 where megan fox tells a story about michael bay sexualising her as a 15 y/o
the crowd laughs, and kimmel makes gross jokes
teen girls being preyed on by older men has never been taken seriously and still isn’t pic.twitter.com/t1rF80UTj1
— liz w (@reservoird0gs) June 21, 2020
“At 15, I was in 10th grade, so that’s sort of a microcosm of how Bay’s mind works,” added Fox.
Kimmel reacted to Fox’s story about her experience at age 15 by stating that this is how everyone’s mind works, but that unlike Bay, other people “pretend” that those thoughts don’t exist. “Yeah, well, that’s really a microcosm of how all our minds work,” said Kimmel. “But some of us have the decency to repress those thoughts and pretend that they don’t exist.”
Megan Fox in Bad Boys II:
After the video clip of the interview resurfaced, both Kimmel and Bay came under heavy fire.
“[He] basically said, ‘we all have thoughts sexualizing minors but we keep quiet about it bc we are good guys,'” tweeted one individual. “i knew there was a reason i always instinctively disliked jimmy kimmel.”
basically said, “we all have thoughts sexualizing minors but we keep quiet about it bc we are good guys ”
i knew there was a reason i always instinctively disliked jimmy kimmel
— r o y (@Jehtty) June 21, 2020
“This is disgusting,” tweeted another. “Why hasn’t @jimmykimmel or @michaelbay been called out on this atrocious behaviour before? How does all of this start to surface now, years later, when it should’ve been dealt with then and there?”
This is disgusting. Why hasn't @jimmykimmel or @michaelbay been called out on this atrocious behaviour before? How does all of this start to surface now, years later, when it should've been dealt with then and there?
— Ameya (@Chef800) June 22, 2020
“His response is even worse what the hell,” tweeted a third individual.
His response is even worse what the hell.
— my name zach (@ZachLawson04) June 21, 2020
“That single nod she did after his ‘joke’ was the exact moment she realized all men are the same and it probably scared the shit out of her to get that response from a tv host with so much power,” said another.
That single nod she did after his “joke” was the exact moment she realized all men are the same and it probably scared the shit out of her to get that response from a tv host with so much power
— ♡ VOL. 3 OUT JULY 10th ♡ (@vzepop_) June 21, 2020
“Michael Bay has a long history of misogyny,” tweeted another. “He made her wash his car in a bikini to get casted for Transformers and he’s been terrible to just about all his actresses. And when Megan commented against him he got her black-listed.”
Michael Bay has a long history of misogyny. He made her wash his car in a bikini to get casted for Transformers and he's been terrible to just about all his actresses
And when Megan commented against him he got her black-listed
— beibi guerl (@BRUJlTAH) June 21, 2020
Megan Fox reacted to the criticisms directed at Bay by posting a statement on social media, in which the actress explains that while she believes “there are many names that deserve to be going viral in cancel culture right now,” she does not believe that Bay is one of them.
“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,” said Fox. “While I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support, I do feel I need to clarify some of the 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. At least not where it’s currently being projected…”
“I was around 15 or 16 years old when I was an extra in Bad Boys II,” said Fox. “There are multiple interviews where I shared the anecdote of being chosen for the scene and the conversations that took place surrounding it.”
The actress went on to explain that she was of age by the time she auditioned for Transformers, as her experiences while auditioning for the film have also been brought up by her fans. “It’s important to note however that when I auditioned for Transformers I was 19 or 20. I did ‘work’ (me pretending to know how to hold a wrench) on 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,” the actress continued. “I hope that whatever opinions are formed around these episodes will at least be seeded in the facts of the events.”
Fox went on to say that while she appreciates everyone’s support, these specific instances with her director are not what people should be focusing on, as there are others — who the actress has left unnamed — that deserve the backlash.
“Please hear me when I thank you for your support,” said Fox. “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.”
“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,” the actress continued, adding that when it comes to Bay, she was never “assaulted or preyed upon” in what she “felt was a sexual manner.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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