Megan Fox Said She Had a ‘Psychological Breakdown’ After the Release of Jennifer’s Body
“I feel like I was sort of out and in front of the #MeToo movement before the #MeToo movement happened.”emphasized text
Megan Fox opened up about how being a sex symbol in Hollywood affected her mental health. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Fox said that she a “genuine psychological breakdown” in the lead-up to the release of the 2009 zombie comedy Jennifer’s Body and its ensuing failure.
“There was so much going on with me at that time, that movie being picked apart was not at the top of [my list of concerns]. Because I had such a fraught relationship with the public, and the media, and journalists, and I was struggling so much at that time in general, this didn’t stand out as a particularly painful moment, it was just part of the mix,” she said.
Fox says she “didn’t want to be seen,” and “didn’t want to have to take a photo, do a magazine, walk a carpet,” which she attributes to “the fear, and the belief, and the absolute certainty” that she was “going to be mocked, or spat at,” or “someone was going to yell at me, or people would stone me or savage me for just being out.” Fox says she “went through a very dark moment after that.”
Fox explained that things got worse for her after she revealed that she had been poorly treated by her Transformers director, Michael Bay. At the time, Fox accused Bay of being a “nightmare” on set, and compared him to Hitler and Napoleon. Now, Fox says that her revelations weren’t taken seriously and nearly ruined her career.
“I feel like I was sort of out and in front of the #MeToo movement before the #MeToo movement happened, I was speaking out and saying, ‘Hey, these things are happening to me and they’re not OK,’” Fox said. “And everyone was like, ‘Oh well, f–k you. We don’t care, you deserve it.’ Because everybody talked about how you looked or how you dressed or the jokes you made.”
Now 33, Fox says she’s in a much better place, something she attributes to becoming a mother. “I think it took getting pregnant ― that was the first real breakthrough where my consciousness shifted and my mind opened up and I was able to see from a bird’s-eye view and breath and take it in,” the mother of three said. “And then another kid, and then another kid and with every kid I feel like that’s always been the doorway into a better version of myself.”
