Few big-screen debuts have ever been quite as flamboyant as Megan Fox’s simmering performance in the 2007 sci-fi blockbuster “Transformers,” which by all accounts set the screen on fire. And if you didn’t recognize Megan Fox before her role in that picture, you almost definitely did thereafter. Her hot entrance may have played a part, but Fox backed it up with a memorable spunky performance that constantly countered the overt hyper-sexualization that followed her character from scene to scene.

In 2007, Paramount debuted a live-action Transformers franchise, which was produced by Steven Spielberg. Michael Bay directed the first picture, which stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, with Fox as his co-star and love interest Mikaela Banes. The 2007 film was a financial success, grossing over $700 million worldwide. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the sequel, fared even better in 2009, confirming a trilogy.

In 2009, Fox sat down with Wonderland to talk about her career and the franchise’s success. She compared filmmaker Michael Bay’s on-set approach to Hitler in the interview, stating, “he wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for.”  Following the interview, Fox appeared to have been blacklisted in Hollywood.

Fox followed up on those allegations with a few less venomous remarks, saying, “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.”

The following year, it was stated that she would not return, with contradictory stories as to who made the decision and why. Fox’s representatives said it was her decision to depart, while sources suggested it was the studio and Bay who made the decision.

Bay claimed in 2011 that Steven Spielberg had asked him to dismiss Fox after making the Nazi remarks.

Bay reportedly did what he was told, though he clearly didn’t hold a grudge against Fox, casting her as April O’neil in his big-budget “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” remake a few years later.

Spielberg, on the other hand, denied any influence in the actress’s loss of the job.

The repercussions of Fox’s statements appeared to continue beyond Transformers 3, since she was no longer cast in larger films. Fox has stated that she was not keen to return to the spotlight following her contentious comments, which likely contributed to her reduced workload. In the years after these remarks, Bay was harshly critical of her work ethic and attitude, and other filmmakers and studios were unlikely to want to work with her. In subsequent years, Fox has stated that she ultimately realized her mistakes. She is well aware that all she needed to do was apologize and she would have stayed a member of the Transformers.

Jennifer’s Body, Jonah Hex, Robot Chicken, New Girl as Zooey Deschanel’s interim replacement, and Think Like A Dog are among her most famous roles. Till Death and Midnight In The Switchgrass, starring Bruce Willis and her lover Machine Gun Kelly aka Colson Baker, are among Fox’s most recent ventures.