Actress Megan Fox and musician Machine Gun Kelly have been making headlines since they first began seeing each other in early 2020.
The two lovebirds met while working on “Midnight in the Switchgrass,” an indie-thriller film about two FBI agents following a string of murders. After the film was forced to halt production due to the pandemic, the co-stars continued to spend time together.
In May 2020, Kelly released the music video for his single “My Bloody Valentine,” which stars Fox as his dominant girlfriend. Although there were plenty of tabloids and Hollywood gossip columns claiming the two were a couple, they had not confirmed it. Despite separating from her then-husband in late 2019, Fox did not file for divorce until November 2020.
After weeks of rumors, Kelly seemed to confirm his connection to Fox in June 2020 by tweeting a lyric from “Bloody Valentine” about “calling you girlfriend” and claiming “life imitated art” on the same day that a photo was released of Kelly and Fox holding hands and kissing.
The next few months brought Instagram posts and stories about getting matching manicures, interviews explaining how the two are twin flames and rumors of the couple meeting each other’s children. As rumors of marriage began to come out in early 2021, there were Hollywood reporters citing sources claiming the couple was not quite ready, but very in love.
The couple packed the first half of 2021 full of iconic moments. The outspoken pair started the year by attending the UFC 260 event in March with fellow punk couple Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker. Next, they grossed out many people by licking each other’s tongues on the red carpet at the Billboard Music Awards. Two days later, Kelly tweeted out that Fox had told him “I love you” in May 2020 before the two were even suspected to be dating.
As the couple continues to share their love with the world via interviews and social media, by way of wearing each other’s blood around their necks and comments about their “dark fairytale,” the rest of the world is enthralled with the spectacle.
Wherever the couple goes, the media cannot seem to get enough — even if consumers seem to be sick of it.
Several petitions to stop interviewing the couple have gone viral, and magazines have begun to write about whether the relationship is healthy due to the appearance of control Kelly has over Fox.
Speculation about the controlling relationship arose after Fox explained that Kelly chose the nude dress she wore for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. In People, Fox is quoted saying, “He was like, ‘You’re gonna be naked tonight,’ and I was like, ‘Whatever you say, Daddy!’” Pictures from throughout the award season showed that in spite of criticism, the couple has remained strong.
Earlier this month, the couple announced their engagement. Both Fox and Kelly referenced their love being beyond just their current lives and how happy they are to be together.
Despite the couple’s joy, there has been some backlash over the ring Kelly designed for Fox. The double-thorned band with their birthstones is designed to be painful to take off, which has led the media and fans to speculate the toxicity of the relationship.
Headlines covering the event read “Machine Gun Kelly’s Barbed Engagement Ring for Megan Fox is a Throwback to Toxic Emo Culture” (Teen Vogue) and “Is Machine Gun Kelly’s engagement ring for Megan Fox romantic—or abusive?” (The Independent). Even Buzzfeed shared a listing of tweets commenting on the toxicity of the ring and Kelly’s “love is pain” comment.
Eric Arnold, senior manufacturing engineering major, has a different thought.
“I just hope Megan Fox will go by Megan Machine Gun Fox or Megan the Gun (like Megan the Stallion) after they get married,” Arnold said.
Arnold, along with senior accounting major Jack Galloway, were interested to see what kind of “craziness” the wedding would involve and whether there would be “blood oaths” or crazy punk rock performances.
With a wedding and Valentine’s Day on the horizon, it is likely the couple will continue to crank up the PDA and share their sometimes bizarre love with the world. Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly may not be the most traditional couple, but they do appear to be madly in love.
I must admit I am a sucker for a good love story and a massive advocate for embracing someone for all that they are. However, I do have concerns about promoting and romanticizing dominant/submissive verbiage and relationships that reflect abusive behavior.
There is no denying the connection between these two souls and I am over the moon for them, but I despise the idea of young fans, especially young girls, dreaming of and yearning for a guy to give them a ring that makes them bleed.
Fox and Kelly can do whatever they want behind closed doors — drink each other’s blood, take hallucinogenic drugs and anything else they desire — but the couple is clearly aware of their fan bases and should keep them in mind. Kelly and Fox may be destined to be together, but with kids of their own, I would think that they would consider the message they are sending to the world.
