July 8, 2021- 10:25 a.m.
The 35-year-old actress recently chatted with InStyle, during which the Transformers star detailed some of the scrutiny she’s dealt with over her relationship with Machine Gun Kelly, 31. The couple initially met on the set of their forthcoming movie, Midnight in the Switchgrass, in May 2020, making their relationship Instagram official the following July after she appeared in his “Bloody Valentine” music video.
Fox shared with the outlet that since going public with their relationship, she’s experienced criticism over the pair’s age difference.
“You want to talk about patriarchy?” Fox said. “The fact that he’s four years younger than me, and people want to act like I’m dating a younger man. He’s 31, and I’m 35. Granted, he’s lived like he’s 19 his whole life, but he isn’t 19.”
The actress continued by noting that in her opinion, the age gap wouldn’t be a big deal to her critics if it involved other male stars. “No one would blink twice if George Clooney was dating someone four years younger,” she added. “Four years? Go f— yourself.”
“We would have been in high school together. That’s so ridiculous that women are treated that way,” Fox concluded.
Megan Fox is done dealing with double standards and criticism about her personal life.
The star is no stranger to having negative comments thrown at her. She has shared in the past how her mental health was negatively affected by the way she was portrayed in her early career, telling Refinery 29 that there was a “bandwagon of absolute toxicity being spewed at me for years.”
“We have to be careful with our words — they’re powerful. That’s something I wish most people would understand. We live in a culture where it’s a game to be the most hateful to get the most attention,” she continued.
“It’s not funny. You’re speaking words over real people, who are permeable, who have hearts. Your negativity can influence them. Especially the sensitive ones,” Fox explained to the outlet. “I’ll call myself one of them. We’re the ones who are influenced by your negativity because we’re so open. I’m not closed off. Those things affect me really deeply.”
In her InStyle interview, the Jennifer’s Body star also reflected on the backlash working mothers face, detailing some of the sexist comments she’s received when out. Fox is a mom to three sons — Noah Shannon, 8½, Bodhi Ransom, 7, and Journey River, 4½ — with ex Brian Austin Green, from whom she filed for divorce last year.
Fox explained that whenever she’s out, she’s typically asked, “Where are your kids?” before answering with her perfect clap back, “Do you ask their dad when he’s out?”
“No,” Fox continued, “because you don’t expect a dad to be with the kids all the time, but I’m supposed to not be seen and be at home with my kids. They have another parent. I have to leave and sometimes I don’t want them photographed and they don’t come with me.”
The actress discussed the “pressure” that comes with women in Hollywood being mothers. She said over the past year, she’s been “very surprised by how archaic some of the mindsets still are in some people.”
