Did Megan Fox decide to leave Transformers 3?

When news first broke on Deadline Hollywood that Megan Fox would not be appearing in Transformers 3 it was said that director Michael Bay made the decision not to bring her back, and Paramount didn’t pick up her option as a result. This was a bit fishy as Fox was spotted on set just 2 weeks ago and Bay said in November that Megan had “a great part” in the next film. Why would Bay drop the actress a few weeks before filming was set to begin after writing her into the script?

Well the latest speculation suggests that it was actually Fox who decided to quit the film, instead of Paramount dropping her.

From The Wrap:

Megan Fox walked away from “Transformers 3″ because director Michael Bay was “verbally abusive” toward her and “she had enough and decided to get out early,” an individual close to the actress has told TheWrap.

Given that the [original] story broke Wednesday on Deadline, it’s highly plausible that Paramount studio chairman Brad Grey’s well-known relationship with editor-in-chief Nikki Finke played a part in how the story was initially spun.

The studio stood by that position on Thursday with the statement: “Paramount had the unilateral right to exercise an option for Megan Fox to appear in ‘Transformers 3.’ Paramount at its sole election allowed the option to lapse.”

While Deal Central was skeptical at first that Fox would walk away from such a lucrative role, persistent whispers around Hollywood indicated that there was another side of the story. Bay has a history of demeaning his leading ladies, including “Pearl Harbor” star Kate Beckinsale; an individual close to the actress recalled that the director “wasn’t very nice” to her on the set, either.

Another individual close to the sequel’s production told TheWrap that Bay “wants his actresses to look a certain way, and if they can’t meet his absurd standards of beauty, he gets rid of them.”

I can see why the studio would want to spin it in their favor, but I think it is most likely that Fox bailed rather than Paramount/Bay firing her. If your $200+ million film is mere weeks away from filming (some filming had actually begun) you don’t fire one of your leads, causing a re-write of the script and further problems (although it has been known to happen before).

I guess we’ll hear more on this during the rounds for Jonah Hex next month, which Fox stars in.

What do you think happened? Do you even care?