Megan Fox Suffered a ‘Psychological Breakdown’ After Being Sexualized During Her Career
Megan Fox revealed she suffered a "psychological breakdown" after being sexualized and objectified throughout her career — particularly after her 2009 film Jennifer's Body.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the Transformers star admitted she reached a breaking point that led to very dark times in her life. "It wasn't just that movie, it was every day of my life, all the time, with every project I worked on and every producer I worked with," she recalled. "It preceded a breaking point for me."
Fox said she remembers wanting to lock herself away from the possibility of being mocked or ridiculed.
“I think I had a genuine psychological breakdown where I wanted just nothing to do," she explained. “I didn’t want to be seen, I didn’t want to have to take a photo, do a magazine, walk a carpet, I didn’t want to be seen in public at all because the fear, and the belief, and the absolute certainty that I 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.”
“So I went through a very dark moment after that,” she added.
Fox also discussed why she didn't share her #MeToo story, echoing the same reasons she gave The New York Times during an interview last year. She felt like she was ahead of her time and that people wouldn't take her seriously, adding that when she did try to speak up about the things that happened to her, no one cared and thought she deserved it because of the way she looked and dressed.
“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 explained.
"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," she added.
Ultimately, it was motherhood that helped her during these trying times. "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 birds-eye view and breath and take it in," Fox shared. "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."