In the run-up to shooting Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Megan Fox told a British magazine that director Michael Bay “wants to be like Hitler on his sets” and that he’s “a nightmare to work for.”

A few months later, she got her walking papers. But it wasn’t Bay who made the call, the director says.

“She was in a different world, on her BlackBerry. You gotta stay focused,” Bay tells the July issue of GQ, on newsstands Tuesday. “And you know, the Hitler thing. Steven said, ‘Fire her right now.’ ”

He was referring to Steven Spielberg, one of the executive producers. Fellow Transformers star Shia LaBeouf says he agrees Fox went too far.

“Criticism is one thing,” he told the magazine. “Then there’s public name-calling, which turns into high school bashing. Which you can’t do. She started s—-talking our captain.”

Bay, however, says he was able to put the actress’s comments into perspective.

“I wasn’t hurt, because I know that’s just Megan,” he says. “Megan loves to get a response. And she does it in the wrong way. I’m sorry, Megan. I’m sorry I made you work 12 hours. I’m sorry that I’m making you show up on time. Movies are not always warm and fuzzy.”

For her part Fox, 25, who declined to comment for the story, said last year that she chose to bow out.

“It was her decision not to return. She wishes the franchise the best,” her reps told PEOPLE last year.

Regardless of their disagreements, Bay says the pair ended on decent terms.

“She sent me a text three months ago. She said, ‘I hope you’re doing well,’” he recounts. “I responded, ‘Who is this?’ She goes, ‘Megan, you dork!’ I said, ‘Oh, well, thank you, hope you’re well.’ When you’re days and months on a set, it’s like a family. You say rude things and you make up.”

Megan Fox famously feuded with Transformers director Michael Bay, once saying, “He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is.”

Fox’s former costar Shia LaBeouf explains the actress, 25, struggled with the “sex-driven role” and bristled under suddenly being “told she was the sexiest woman in America.”

“She had a hard time accepting it,” LaBeouf, 24, tells the Los Angeles Times. “Mike films women in a way that appeals to a 16-year-old’s sexuality. It’s summer. It’s Michael’s style.”

LaBeouf, who admits Bay “lacks tact,” adds, “When Mike would ask [Fox] to do specific things, there was no time for fluffy talk. We’re on the run.”

But LaBeouf says it’s a different story for Rosie Huntington-Whitley, Fox’s replacement in the third installment of the action-packed flick.

“Rosie comes with this Victoria’s Secret background and she’s comfortable with it,” he says. “So she can get down with Mike’s way of working, and it makes the whole set vibe very different.”

It looks like Megan Fox might not have been too hard to replace for the upcoming “Transformers 3” film, as another actress has reportedly already been cast for the part.

According to insiders, Katie Cassidy, daughter of 70s heartthrob David Cassidy, will be assuming the role.

A source told press that Michael Bay was thrilled to be rid of Miss Fox and already had Katie in mind as a replacement.

“Michael worked with Katie on A Nightmare On Elm Street and he sees her as the perfect choice. Megan was unknown when she was cast in the first Transformers and Katie is in that same mold. She even looks a little like Megan — only blonde.”

I think this could be a wonderful job since she did such an amazing job in Nightmare on Elm Street.

Megan Fox is seeking to transform rumor to fact.

The actress is slamming speculation she was booted from the third installment of the Transformers action film franchise.

“Megan Fox will not be starring in Transformers 3,” reps for the actress, 24, tell PEOPLE. “It was her decision not to return. She wishes the franchise the best.”

Citing unnamed sources, Variety reports the studio and the film’s director, Michael Bay, intend to cast another actress as star Shia LaBeouf’s love interest to move the story in a different direction.

Shooting for the film, slated for a July 2011 release, is expected to kick off this summer in locations across the U.S.

Fox, meanwhile, is prepping for the June 18 release of Jonah Hex, an action film she stars in opposite Josh Brolin, John Malkovich and Will Arnett.