Michael Bay and Megan Fox just won’t shut up about their alleged feud, or how they’re not really fighting, or how they’re passive-aggressively taunting each other, or how Megan is just a little tiny woman being bullied by big bad men after she acted consistently unprofessional and disrespectful. So anyway, most people know the larger points of this story: Megan said Michael Bay was “like Hitler”, Megan got called out by a lot of people, including Transformers crew members, yadda yadda. A few months ago there was even a rumor floating around that Bay wanted to write Megan Fox out of the Transformers franchise and bring in some new hot girl. Michael has now given a new interview where he denies wanting to push Megan out of the franchise, and blames her stupidity and unprofessional behavior on her age.

As much as we love a vicious catfight, Movieline equally loves a peace accord (mainly because it opens the door for a good sucker-swat). So join us now live from the Victoria’s Secret fashion show as Michael Bay — feather-trimmed boob-for-boob the best lingerie-commercial director working on the planet today — offers an olive branch to Megan Fox, the onetime-chamois-girl-turned-superstar whose candid appraisal of the director included a comparison to Hitler. Bay’s not sweating it:

“I love her … It’s just, she’s young. Everyone’s got to give her a break, she only…23? It’s just hard. I’ve traveled around the world with her and she’s just like this world symbol now, you know?”

So he brushes her diatribes under the carpet? “Absolutely … She called me (after the Hitler comment) and goes, ‘It’s all bullsh—t, Mike.’ The press, they just like to prey, and stalk, and pounce and find a good little juicy thing. But she’s always wanted to do these crazy comments. That’s just her. She’s great.”

He also said, “She’s got a great part in Transformers 3,” and he said he’s currently working on the script. So Bay’s not planning on getting revenge by, say, killing her off? “No, no. no,” he said, dismissing it. “She gets enough of that already.”

No revenge for Fox, but rather a juicy, range-stretching part in Transformers 3 in which she’ll make her first screen appearance Turtle Waxing a Stealth Bomber with her whale tail peeking out. Congratulations, Megan!

[From Movieline]

Um… she’s 23 years old, not 13. She knows better. And if she really, truly does not know any better, than this is a teachable moment. And really, isn’t that setting the bar really low? “Oh, she’s 23 years old, she can’t be expected to know not to go around calling her director Hitler and Napoleon.” Trust me… I’ve worked since I was 16 years old. You pick up pretty fast what you should and should not say to and about your boss. That being said, CB is like Hitler. NOOOO!!!

Megan Fox appears in the New York Times outtakes, courtesy of Popoholic. Michael Bay on November 19, PicApp/Getty.

**Speculative spoilers for Transformers sequel**

In Touch Weekly is reporting a juicy rumor. Apparently, some people think there’s a chance Transformers director Michael Bay will kill off Megan Fox’s character in the next Transformers sequel. Stop… listen. This is the sound of a career dying. Not with a bang, but a whimper. Shh! Quiet, Megan Fox is learning a valuable career lesson about not sh-tting on the hand that feeds her. Will she really learn this lesson, or has this whole Megan Fox experience been an exercise in pipe dreams?

Here’s the story: Megan Fox and Michael Bay sort of hate each other. Maybe “hate” is a strong word. Commenter GatsyGal had an interesting theory about Megan and Michael. She thinks that their months-long, drawn-out war of words has all been a lover’s quarrel, and that their disputes are all about sex. Could be - it’s certainly a solid theory given what we know about the two of them. Namely, Megan is really dumb and she will say and do anything to get attention, and Michael is really gross, and probably a pervert. They’re sort of perfect for each other. Anyway, Michael and Megan have been fighting for about four months, with too much back-and-forth between the two of them to even detail. Suffice to say, Megan is extremely unprofessional, and Michael is egomaniacal. And he’s going to kill her. Her character, that it. Maybe. Hopefully.

Megan Fox’s recent comments about Michael Bay could end up costing her a major role in the next Transformers.

According to a movie insider, Michael is contemplating scripting a dramatic death for Megan’s character in the begging of Transformers 3 and hiring another gorgeous young actress to take her place.

“Michael pretty much discovered Megan and now he’s very quietly looking for her replacement… He hasn’t decided if he’s going to kill her off in the next movie, but he just wants to be prepared.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, October 18 2009]

I really, really hope this happens. I haven’t even seen any of the Transformers movies, but even I think it would be a wonderful move by Bay to throw Megan off of the franchise. It would be a powerful signal to all of those young stars out there who think that can mouth off and act like unprofessional brats and get away with it. Throw her out, Michael! I doubt Michael’s even alone in his desire to give her the boot. It seems like the Transformers crew hates her - they did write that nasty open letter calling her a thankless, classless, graceless bitch. Plus, Megan’s already had a rude awakening with the failure of Jennifer’s Body - no one went to see it, and Megan’s star power is being heavily questioned. But Transformers is all that she has now! Chuckle. And this, class, is why we don’t bad-mouth our bosses in the media. What goes around comes around.

The war of words between Megan Fox and her Transformers director Michael Bay was a virtual bloodbath for months. There were a lot of different chapters to it (try the Michael Bay archives for a refresher), but some of the latest moves went down like this: Michael Bay slamming Megan as immature and ridiculous after she criticized the Transformers films; Megan saying Michael was like Napoleon and Hitler; unnamed Transformers crew members sending out (on Michael’s site) an open letter slamming Megan as a thankless, graceless, classless bitch; Michael sort-of apologizing for the letter and Megan sort-of apologizing for being a snotty brat.

In this month’s Nylon Magazine, Megan made another reference to Michael and their war of snotty, bitchy attrition. I saw this last week and didn’t say anything because I was all “meh, it’s barely newsworthy”. But I will note - Megan is incapable of shutting up about this crap. In the future, if she ever gets a question about the Michael Bay mess, she should really consider saying “no comment” or “he’s nice”. Alas, here’s what she said: “We say this sh-t to each other. It’s not that we’re buddies, but to get through making his movies, you have to give him sh-t. You can’t mentally and emotionally survive until you get some of that out, and he actually enjoys the process of having his actors bitch at him and him being able to bitch back at his actors.” She can’t “mentally and emotionally survive” without being a snotty little brat? For f-ck’s sake.

Anyway, Transformers 3 just got it’s release date, and Michael decided to announce it on his blog (announcement via Just Jared). But Michael is just a friggin’ immature as Megan, and he tried to bait her:

Director Michael Bay just updated his blog, announcing the release date of Transformers 3.

He writes, “Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st, 2011. Not 2012. Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I’m flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters.”

Bay continued, “P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you. Michael”

This is in response to some of the Transformers crew slamming Megan and one of the film’s production assistants defending her.

[From Just Jared]

Ugh. I think Michael was aiming for “light-hearted fun” but ended up creepy. Although, my first thought was that Michael is being very passive-aggressive towards Megan. Jennifer’s Body just bombed, she can’t carry a film that doesn’t have huge explosions, her movie-star status is in question, and she’s contractually obligated to work with a director she hates on a project she thinks is beneath her. Michael is kind of rubbing it in her face. In this situation, I have a feeling that an intelligent actress would simply suck it up and act like a professional. But I doubt Megan will - I’d imagine she’ll say something bitchy about this within one week.

Michael Bay, Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf are shown at the German premiere of Transformers 2 on 6/14/09. Credit: WENN.com

In a recent interview in Rolling Stone Magazine, Megan Fox was talking about her on-again relationship with Brian Austin Green. She confesses to having a “ridiculously bad” temper, and says (via Page Six), “I’ve had to say to Brian, ‘You have to go and stop talking to me, because I’m going to kill you. I’m going to stab you with something, please leave.’ I’d never own a gun for that reason. I wouldn’t shoot to kill. But I would shoot him in the leg, for sure.” I never thought I’d say this, but poor BAG. I don’t know how he puts up with her.

In other Megan Fox news, she finally responded to that open letter written by three unnamed Transformers crew members. The letter slammed Megan as an unprofessional Valley girl, and a “thankless, classless, graceless bitch.” Not only did she respond, but another crew member wrote another letter defending Megan from their attacks:

Fox herself commented on the drama exclusively to EW. “I have spoken with the parties involved privately,” Fox said in a statement, via her publicist. “I am very fortunate to be involved in this amazing franchise and look forward to Transformers 3.”

But wait! There’s another twist. On Tuesday, yet another letter surfaced, from yet another Transformers crew member. (This one, however, is signed.) Below, printed in full, is production assistant Anthony Steinhart’s defense of Fox. He responds to the criticism — both the minutiae and broader strokes — in the original letter.

“First of all, I would like people to know (for those who are interested) the reason why I am writing this letter is to clear my name in any of this Ms. Fox bashing. As someone pointed out in one of the responses, you could narrow down the list of potential writers of the letter by looking on IMDB. I have received a few phone calls from people who have read the letter and they know that I have worked closely with the actors/actresses on the film, so I felt I should at least clear my name.”

“My name is Anthony Steinhart and I have worked on both Transformers movies and have had the pleasure of working with Ms. Fox.”

“I read the letter by the three unnamed crew people and was blown away by their description of Ms. Fox. Especially, since I am the one usually getting Ms. Fox at her trailer. I have personally never been nor ever witnessed Ms. Fox being rude or inconsiderate of people’s feelings or the work to be done. Everyone is entitled to their good days and bad. Contrary to popular belief, she is like us (human) and has both good and bad days as well. Working on the Transformers movies can be intense at times and sometimes intense situations cause intense moments.”

“Some of the examples the three unnamed writers give as evidence of Ms. Fox and her horrible attitude are so ridiculous.”

“It’s unfortunate the grip didn’t want to bring his daughter to set because Megan Fox wasn’t nice and not the fact that we had a closed to set. No visitors unless approved by the UPM [unit production manager]. That is what the call sheets have always said. By the way, Ms. Fox wished my 12-year-old brother a happy birthday over the phone while we were shooting in New Mexico. Not so heartless…”

“It’s also unfortunate that she didn’t attend any of the “15” parties, but I clearly remember her hanging out in New Mexico with some of the crew and watching her get hounded by passers-by as she walked through the hotel lobby and being nothing but gracious to her fans. Also isn’t it refreshing to hear that she doesn’t need to be a part of the party machine that sometimes swallows people whole, only to spit them out on the front page of every magazine. And incidentally, if these crew members were at the wrap party, I only saw 2 cast members there. Granted I wasn’t there the whole night, but I was there long enough to know that the others probably weren’t going to show.”

“I also remember walking with her through the hordes of people lined up, while we shot at Princeton and she signed autograph after autograph. She signed many publicity photos, magazines, pieces of white paper for crew members and their families. Now I know that isn’t the same as curing a disease, but if we are to take anything an actor/actress says or does to personally, then I fear we have far greater problems on our hands.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t always keep up with or hang on to quotes and/or quips “actresses” say, so I wasn’t familiar with the incident that incited the tasteless letter, but none-the-less leave the war of words to those involved. No need to drag her name through the mud and at the same time, unknowingly, bring others down.”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Well… I tend to believe in a little from column A and a little from column B. There’s no question in my mind that Megan could use some lessons in how to be more professional and gracious, and I’m just judging that from her public statements. As far as her private behavior, or second-hand accounts of how she acts on set, my guess is that she probably isn’t as bad as the original open letter would suggest. Bottom line - she needs to grow up, and she needs to have a better understanding of how idiotic and nasty she sounds in interviews. And Michael Bay needs to stop with feeding the beast.

Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green are shown out on 9/5, 9/6 and 9/7/09. Credit: WENN.com

There’s a long, tortured history between Megan Fox and her Transformers director Michael Bay. It’s been going on for months, and I like to think of it as “a war of attrition between two brats”. It’s unclear who started it, but I think Megan Fox took it to a ridiculous level when she started badmouthing Bay in interview after interview.

Her latest was an interview in the British magazine Wonderland. She was asked about working with Bay, and she laid into him in her normal, bratty way: “God, I really wish I could go loose on this one. He’s like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he’s not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he’s so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. And it’s endearing to watch him. He’s vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set he’s a tyrant. Shia and I almost die when we make a Transformers movie. He has you do some really insane things that insurance would never let you do.”

Instead of just dismissing Megan as a young woman who very obviously has some kind mental, decency, historical accuracy, verbal and grace deficiency, Michael Bay and his crew have declared war. Sort of. Three crew members sent in a nasty letter about Megan, and Bay’s people posted it on his official website. Within a day, Bay had the letter taken down, and he said: “I don’t condone the crew letter to Megan. And I don’t condone Megan’s outlandish quotes. But her crazy quips are part of her crazy charm. The fact of the matter I still love working with her, and I know we still get along. I even expect more crazy quotes from her on Transformers 3. Michael.” Oh, but no fear. We still have the original letter, in all it’s glory! It’s rough stuff, too:

This is an open letter to all Michael Bay fans. We are three crew members that have worked with Michael for the past ten years. Last week we read the terrible article with inflammatory, truly trashing quotes by the Ms. Fox about Michael Bay. This letter is to set a few things straight.

Yes, Megan has great eyes, a tight stomach we spray with glycerin, and an awful silly Marilyn Monroe tattoo plastered on her arm that we cover up to keep the moms happy.

Michael found this shy, inexperienced girl, plucked her out of total obscurity thus giving her the biggest shot of any young actresses’ life. He told everyone around to just trust him on his choice. He granted her the starring role in Transformers, a franchise that forever changed her life; she became one of the most googled and oogled women on earth. She was famous! She was the next Angelina Jolie, hooray! Wait a minute, two of us worked with Angelina – second thought – she’s no Angelina. You see, Angelina is a professional.

We know this quite intimately because we’ve had the tedious experience of working with the dumb-as-a-rock Megan Fox on both Transformers movies. We’ve spent a total of 12 months on set making these two movies.

We are in different departments; we can’t give our names because sadly doing so in Hollywood could lead to being banished from future Paramount work. One of us touches Megan’s panties, the other has the often shitty job of pulling Ms. Sour pants out of her trailer, while another is near the Panaflex camera that helps to memorialize the valley girl on film.

Megan has the press fooled. When we read those magazines we wish we worked with that woman. Megan knows how to work her smile for the press. Those writers should try being on set for two movies, sadly she never smiles. The cast, crew and director make Transformers a really fun and energetic set. We’ve traveled around the world together, so we have never understood why Megan was always such – the grump of the set?

When facing the press, Megan is the queen of talking trailer trash and posing like a porn star. And yes we’ve had the unbearable time of watching her try to act on set, and yes, it’s very cringe-able. So maybe, being a porn star in the future might be a good career option. But make-up beware, she has a paragraph tattooed to her backside (probably due her rotten childhood) easily another 45 minutes in the chair!

So when the three of us caught wind of Ms Fox, pontificating yet again in some publication (like she actually has something interesting to say) blabbing her trash mouth about a director whom we three have grown to really like. She compared working with Michael, to “working with Hitler”. We actually don’t think she knows who Hitler is by the way. But we wondered how she doesn’t realize what a disgusting, fully uneducated comment this was? Well, here let’s get some facts straight.

Say what you want about Michael – yes at times he can be hard, but he’s also fun, and he challenges everyone for a reason – he simply wants people to bring their ‘A’ game. He comes very prepared, knows exactly what he wants, involves the crew and expects everyone to follow through with his or her best, and that includes the actors. He’s one of the hardest working directors out there.

He gets the best from his crews, many of whom have worked with him for 15 years. And yes, he’s loyal, one of the few directors we’ve encountered who lowered his fee by millions to keep Transformers in the United States and California, so he could work with his own crew.

Megan says that Transformers was an unsafe set? Come on Megan, we know it is a bit more strenuous then the playground at the trailer park, but you don’t insult one of the very best stunt and physical effects teams in the business! Not one person got hurt!

And who is the real Megan Fox? She is very different than the academy nominee and winning actors we’ve all worked around. She’s as about ungracious a person as you can ever fathom. She shows little interest in the crew members around her. We work to make her look good in every way, but she’s absolutely never appreciative of anyone’s hard work. Never a thank you. All the crewmembers have stopped saying hi to Ms. Princess because she never says hello back. It gets tiring. Many think she just really hates the process of being an actress.

Megan has been late to the sets many times. She goes through the motions that make her exude this sense of misery. We’ve heard the A.D’s piped over the radio that Megan won’t walk from her trailer until John Turturro walks first! John’s done seventy-five movies and she’s made two!

Never expect Megan to attend any of the 15 or so crew parties like all the other actors have. And then there’s the classless night she blew off The Royal Prince of Jordan who made a special dinner for all the actors. She doesn’t know that one of the grips daughters wanted to visit their daddy’s work to meet Megan, but he wouldn’t let them come because he told them “she is not nice.”

The press certainly doesn’t know her most famous line. On our first day in Egypt, the Egyptian government wouldn’t let us shoot because of a permit problem as the actors got ready in make up at the Four Seasons Hotel. Michael tried to make the best of it; he wanted to take the cast and crew on a private tour of the famous Giza pyramids. God hold us witness, Megan said, “I can’t believe Michael is f-cking forcing us to go to the f-cking pyramids!” I guess this is the “Hitler guy” she is referring to.

So this is the Megan Fox you don’t get to see. Maybe she will learn, but we figure if she can sling insults, then she can take them too. Megan really is a thankless, classless, graceless, and shall we say unfriendly bitch. It’s sad how fame can twist people, and even sadder that young girls look up to her. If only they knew who they’re really looking up to.

But ‘Fame’ is fleeting. We, being behind the scenes, seen em’ come and go. Hopefully Michael will have Megatron squish her character in the first ten minutes of Transformers 3. We can tell you that will make the crew happy! -Loyal Transformers Crew

[From Michael Bay’s Official site via Oh No They Didn’t]

This is how it begins. And ends. Not with a bang, but with a “screw you”. Here’s the thing - I totally think Megan deserved to be called out, and continues to deserve to be called out for her dumb, outrageous, ignorant, unprofessional, nasty behavior and words. I’m just not sure I want to call her out while defending Michael Bay, who seems like an a-hole too. Plus, I’d like to see Megan really face some more serious consequences for her behavior - like, a line of producers and directors declaring that they have no interest in working with her.

Megan Fox is shown at a press conference for Jennifer’s Body at the Toronto Film Festival on 9/11/09. Credit: WENN.com