The Transformers franchise has been rebooted a number of times, at this point. Today, at 3:45pm on Channel 4, the 2018 prequel movie, Bumblebee, is gracing TV screens, starring Hailee Steinfeld.

But long before the Marvel actor joined the party, the franchise was held up by three people: Shia LaBeouf, Michael Bay and Megan Fox.

LaBeouf and Fox were on-screen lovers while Bay directed the first five movies in the series. However, Fox – one of the main attractions to the series – only starred in the first two films; 2007’s Transformers and 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

It was in 2009 that Fox ruined her chances of making a comeback to the series when she had an interview with Wonderland magazine.

The 23-year-old starlet called Bay a “nightmare” to work with.

She added: “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.”

These comments did not sit well with Steven Spielberg at all.

Spielberg was the executive producer of the franchise and was (and is still) a legend in the Hollywood sphere.

Also, the director is Jewish and has helped create some films telling the story of the Jewish Holocaust in the past. Most notably, he directed the 1993 film Schindler’s List, and also executive produced the Academy Award-winning 1998 documentary The Last Days.

Bay revealed that it was these comments pertaining to Hitler that sent Fox off the deep end.

He said in 2011: “You know the Hitler thing. Steven said: ‘Fire her right now.'”

Fox’s representatives told a different story, though.

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Bay was later quizzed about Fox and her comments about him.

Surely, it must have been hurtful to see things said about him in a publication.

But he revealed: “I wasn’t hurt, because I know that’s just Megan. Megan loves to get a response. And she does it in kind of the wrong way.”

He even apologised to her for the work he made her do on the sets of the two Transformers movies.

Bay said: “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.”

Still, there was no love lost between the two stars, as Bay rehired Fox in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot he helmed just a few years later.

LaBeouf had a different perspective on her comments, however. He said: “She started s**t talking our captain. Which you can’t do. Megan developed this Spice Girl strength, this woman-empowerment [stuff] that made her feel awkward about her involvement with Michael, who some people think is a very lascivious filmmaker, the way he films women.”

The Transformers series is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video now.

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