Megan Fox has branded the film industry as ''ruthlessly misogynistic''.

The 34-year-old actress has taken to social media to respond to fan opinions that she was mistreated by Hollywood and sexualised early in her career.

The social media backlash came after a 2009 interview with Jimmy Kimmel resurfaced which saw Megan share a story about being sexualised in Bay's movie 'Bad Boys II' when she was just 15.

She said at the time: ''They were shooting this club scene and they brought me in, and I was wearing a Stars-and-Stripes Bikini and a red cowboy hat. And six-inch heels.

''And he approved it, and they said, you know, 'Michael, she's 15, so you can't sit her at the bar and she can't have a drink in her hand'.

''So his solution to that problem was to then have me dancing underneath a waterfall getting soaking wet.''

When the audience laughed and she added that ''that's a microcosm of how Bay's mind works'', Kimmel responded: ''Well that's really a microcosm of how all our minds work but some of us have the decency to repress those thoughts.''

Megan has defended Bay from criticism, insisting she ''was never assaulted or preyed upon in what I felt was a sexual manner'', but took a swipe at the Hollywood industry as a whole.

She wrote on Instagram: ''Please hear me when I thank you for your support.

''But these specific instances were inconsequential in a long and arduous journey along which I have endured some genuinely harrowing experiences in a ruthlessly misogynistic industry.''

Responding to speculation about possible mistreatment from filmmaker Bay, particularly about her audition for the his 2007 blockbuster 'Transformers', she stated: ''I did 'work' (me pretending to know how to hold a wrench) on one of Michael's Ferrari's during one of the audition scenes.

''It was at the Platinum Dunes studio parking lot, there were several other crew members and employees present and I was at no point undressed or anything similar.

''So as far as this particular audition story I was not underage at the time and I was not made to 'wash' or work on someone's cars in a way that was extraneous from the material in the actual script.

''I hope that whatever opinions are formed around these episodes will at least be seeded in the facts of the events.

''When it comes to my direct experiences with Michael... I was never assaulted or preyed upon in what I felt was a sexual manner.''

Meanwhile, Megan thanked people who were speaking out and insisted ''there are many names that deserve to be going viral in cancel culture''.

She added: ''I'm thankful to all of you who are brave enough to speak out and I'm grateful to all of you who are taking it upon yourselves to support, uplift, and bring comfort to those who have been harmed by a violent and toxic societal paradigm.''