For Millennials. By Millennials.
The #MeToo movement exposed many predatory Hollywood moguls. Many actresses and artists showed remarkable bravery in coming forward with their stories. One of them was Charlize Theron, who recalled her story of sexual harassment with Howard Stern. One of these big-name Hollywood producers tried to harass her. But, she never named him. Could it be Michael Bay?
Charlize Theron opens up with Howard Stern
The Mad Max star went on Howard Stern’s morning radio show and opened up about a creepy encounter she had. This was back in her early days as a struggling just 18/19-year-old actress. A modeling agent told her to visit this producer’s house at 9 pm on a Saturday in Los Angeles. She said it was about some acting gig, but it proved to be otherwise.
When Theron rang the doorbell, he answered in his pajamas with drinks all around. Moreover, it seemed like he had no interest in Charlize Theron’s script either, saying that he only wanted to “talk”. But then, Theron recalls:
And then at one point he put his hand on my knee and I just went oof
She further added how the immediate reaction is that you just “go blank”:
You just go blank. You don’t know what to do. But I left. I don’t even know how I got out of the house.
However, Charlize Theron had her moment with him, 8 years later. This time, the producer offered her a job in his film, which she turned down. But that’s not it. She then confronted him:
I went purely just to have my moment where he said “nice to meet you” and I said, “no, we’ve met before”. And he had no recollection of it and his producing partner was standing right next to him and he was embarrassed.
Theron was lucky to have her moment with her harasser, but who was he?
Could it be Michael Bay?
The math adds up. This is because Theron turned down Michael Bay’s offer in his 2001 film, Pearl Harbour. That was roughly around 8 years after Theron’s incident of harassment took place in Los Angeles, where Michael Bay mostly resides. Therefore, there’s a possibility that it could be him. And this isn’t the first time he’s been involved in a #MeToo controversy.
Michael Bay was reportedly quite misogynistic towards Meghan Fox too while shooting the Transformers. He practically reduced her to a sex object, which damaged her career a lot. Again, we can’t be sure if it really was Michael Bay, as Charlize Theron never disclosed the producer’s name. But, it’ll be no surprise if it was him.
She spoke about it recently and she gave more details. She actually exposed him in an interview but the journalist chose to hide the name. In this recent interview, she said that she will say his name.