Megan Fox has hit back at critics accusing her of "xenophobia" for comments she made while addressing the controversy over a photo taken of her at the Super Bowl.
The image in question showed Fox posing in a club with her fianceé Machine Gun Kelly, Taylor Swift and her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce. It quickly went viral, with many questioning whether the 37-year-old actor had undergone plastic surgery as her appearance looked "very different."
Taking to Instagram, Fox responded to the initial criticism, saying that it was a "shadowy cell phone pic of me looking like a Ukrainian blowup doll."
"When in REALITY, I look like one of those super expensive real sex dolls you can only get in Japan," she added.
Her remarks soon drew backlash.
"Hi, thirsty-girl, I'm Ukrainian. Do you have ANY idea what me and most Ukrainian women have had to put up with in real life and in the media? We're portrayed as cleaners/nannies/thieves/rent-a-brides/prostitutes," one person replied to Fox's post, noting that the star's comments were "lazy, irresponsible, and most of all, it won't resurrect your dead career."
"Stay plastic, but keep Ukraine and Ukrainians out of your mouth unless you're donating and amplifying to help us LIVE THROUGH THIS GENOCIDE," the commenter added.
Famous Russian influencer Polina Pushkareva also replied to the image, writing, "I guess xenophobia towards eastern Europeans is still a thing in Hollywood."
The outrage prompted Fox to respond on the social media platform.
"Dear god. That is NOT what I meant," she wrote, according to the Independent. "Ukrainian women are hot af and so in my imagination the blowup dolls would also be hot. Let a girl make a joke for [expletive] sake."
Last year, Fox admitted in an interview with Sports Illustrated, that she suffered from body dysmorphia — which the Mayo Clinic has characterized as "a mental health condition in which you can't stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance."
"I have body dysmorphia," Fox explained. "I don't ever see myself the way other people see me. There's never a point in my life where I loved my body, never, ever."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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