In an interview with The New York Times, multi-hyphenate performer FKA twigs disclosed that her relationship with Shia LaBeouf, which began in 2018 when they worked together on Honey Boy, was one of “relentless abuse.” FKA twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, tells the Times’ Katie Benner and Melena Ryzik that she decided to speak up about LaBeouf’s behavior and what she endured in order to “raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency.” Barnett’s statements accompany the filing of a lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which accuses LaBeouf of “sexual battery, assault and infliction of mental distress,” as well as “knowingly [giving] Barnett a sexually transmitted disease.”
Throughout the harrowing feature, the Mary Magdalene artist recalls alleged violent encounters with LaBeouf, which are also detailed in the lawsuit. According to the court filings, a Valentine’s Day 2019 trip to the desert ended with the Transformers franchise actor “driving recklessly… removing his seatbelt and threatening to crash unless she professed her love for him.” When Barnett “begged to be let out of the car,” LaBeouf pulled over to a gas station to let her leave, but ended up “throwing her against the car while screaming in her face according to the suit. He then forced her back in the car.” In one of the most revealing and dispiriting passages, Barnett says no one at the gas station tried to help her when LaBeouf allegedly assaulted her. She tried to tell a colleague about LaBeouf’s behavior only to be “brushed off.” “I just thought to myself, no one is ever going to believe me,” Barnett tells the Times. “I’m unconventional. And I’m a person of color who is a female.”
The Valentine’s Day 2019 incident is central to the lawsuit, which includes claims of physical, emotional, and mental abuse during the course of LaBeouf and Barnett’s relationship. The filings also include statements from Karolyn Pho, a stylist and former girlfriend of LaBeouf’s who related “similarly tumultuous experiences” to the Times. Pho alleges LaBeouf once “drunkenly pinned her to a bed and head-butted her, enough that she bled.” Pho tells the NYT it took her time to reckon with the abuse, in part because “So much goes into breaking down a man or woman to make them OK with a certain kind of treatment.”
In the lawsuit, Barnett also alleges that LaBeouf “kept a loaded firearm by the bed and that she was scared to use the bathroom at night lest he mistake her for an intruder and shoot her.” She says LaBeouf would turn any disagreement into “an all-night fight, depriving her of sleep,” isolated her from friends and collaborators, and once locked her in a room and yelled at her when she tried to leave him. Barnett says it took multiple tries and the help of a therapist to finally leave LaBeouf. “He brought me so low, below myself, that the idea of leaving him and having to work myself back up just seemed impossible,” the singer-songwriter says. According to the suit, Barnett plans to donate “a significant portion of any monetary damages to domestic-violence charities.”
In response to Barnett’s statements, LaBeouf sent this email to The New York Times:
“I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel. “I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”
Though the actor and his rep have yet to officially comment on Barnett’s suit, LaBeouf did send a separate email to the Times about the allegations, “many” of which he says “are not true.” But he also noted that he “owes the women ‘the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done.’” LaBeouf has a well-documented history of what the article calls “turbulent behavior.” According to the NYT research of newspapers and public records, the actor has been arrested multiple times for assault and disorderly conduct, though the charges were ultimately dismissed including assault and disorderly conduct, according to newspaper reports and public records. And in 2015, he was recorded arguing with then-girlfriend Mia Goth, telling the people recording the fight, on camera, that “If I’d have stayed there, I would’ve killed her.”
Barnett tells the Times it was important to come forward with her story now, because “[w]hat I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life. I don’t think people would ever think that it would happen to me. But I think that’s the thing. It can happen to anybody.”
If you or someone you know in the U.S. has been affected by sexual violence, help is available 24/7 through RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE and online.rainn.org.
89 Comments
I can believe it. I don’t know why enablers keep giving this guy multiple second chances. Hollywood should walk away from him. He’s a garbage human. It would be no big loss. Just find a different white dude to read your scripted lines and act out your scenes — one that is not a serial abuser.
Does anyone on earth like him? He seems to me to be as universally despised as any actor I’ve seen.
he’s a generic white manhe can only fail upward
OMG did you see Shia at a table read for uh…whatever stupid shit he read? HE STOLE THE SHOW
David Ayer seems to love him. There was some brief industry respect for his “woe is me” movie Honey Boy.
problem is where in hollywood you can find a star who doesn’t think his wealth and privilege allow them to do whatever they want.
Sadly not surprised, fuck Shia Labeouf.
This is the end of him. He was already no longer employable for big studio movies, now indies probably won’t want to touch him. He’ll still get work, but straight to DVD schlock at best. I think he’s a good actor and I was hoping he was getting his life back on track but he deserves no more chances.
Or, and stay with me here, he’ll be playing Mel Gibson’s son inside of two years.
“I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel. “I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”This is a new take on the non-apology apology. It’s stupid and hurtful and lacks any sense of responsibility, but it is new.
It’s the perfect rich youngish white guy apology – it’s an apology, yes, but it’s 100% focused on the person doing the apologizing.
I’ve hurt a lot of people INCLUDING MYSELF.
I wonder if this goes beyond that to something diagnostic. There’s being a rich, youngish, douchey white guy and somebody in need of serious therapeutic intervention. It’s absolutely abusive behavior, and the “I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel” line is clearly deflecting, but this feels like he’s mentally unhinged even beyond that, especially with his other irrational behavior over the years.
Hi Mel Gibson apologist, none of that is any excuse for abuse.
Hey recognitions, I never said it was. And I’m not a Mel Gibson apologist. I am open to letting people have second chances when they turn their lives around, and considering other things going on in their lives that may have contributed to them being horrible people at the time. Including, but not limited to, Mel Gibson. And, in fact, the same rules apply to LaBeouf as they do to Gibson. Both have done atrocious things. But if in ten years from now LaBeouf has done things to make amends and is a better person, I’m going to view him in a different light than if he’s still currently doing abusive things.
There’s some nuance there that you seem to willfully overlook every time this comes up (usually because you bring it up). I can think what LaBeouf and Gibson did was horrible and make no excuses for it. Which I do not. I can also acknowledge the factors that may have led into their bad behavior, and cut them some slack if and when they do things to change who they are as individuals. You do not seem willing or able to do so. Such is life, I suppose.
lots of people with mental health issues that don’t abuse women or get violent with others. lots of perfectly sane people do abuse women and use violence regularly.
True, but his history seems to have a little bit of both.
“I can’t apologize because I’m incapable of expressing personal responsibility. Also, I’ve hurt so many people, who even knows whether I did this? What do you want from me?”
The part that bothers me more is this:“LaBeouf did send a separate email to the Times about the allegations, ‘many’ of which he says ‘are not true.’”Every creep who has been MeTooed or accused of any sort of violence or bad behavior says some variation of this line (as does Trump whenever there is a negative news article about him). What the line does is call the accusers liars without giving them any way to prove otherwise because LeBeouf (or whomever) doesn’t actually name the things that he supposedly didn’t do. (I also have to wonder how he knows that the accusations are lies. If alcoholism is truly to blame for his bad behavior, then surely he doesn’t remember everything that he’s done?)This tactic also allows the accused to avoid taking responsibility. Rather than admit to and any specific bad behavior, he can simply apologize for not always behaving well, which could mean anything from I said a few mean things to I was physically and/or sexually abusive, and thus means nothing. Nevertheless, the vague sorta apology allows the accused to benefit from “showing growth” by being “big enough” to apologize while refusing to tarnish himself by apologizing for anything specific or by giving the accused what she deserves: an admission that she is right and should be believed.I get that this wishy-washy I did some of what she said but not all of it strategy is probably the result of legal advice. Admitting in print to a crime could have serious repercussions for LeBeouf that go beyond his career, so he’d be stupid to say otherwise. Still, it is the worst and I’d rather that LeBeouf and his ilk remain silent than use this weasely tactic.
The guys is an asshole, no way around it. He thinks of himself as a “troubled artist”, and sure he has had trauma in his life, but as someone who has had a troubled childhood, with abuse, both physical and sexual, bullying and anger issues, all while living the political violence and unstability in Colombia, when I see him all I can see is a poor rich white boy whose ego is so big he chose “violent, asshole, tough guy artist” as his brand.
I do think he might be mentally ill. But mental illness is not an excuse for abuse and does not stop him from being held accountable for what he has done.
There are mentally ill people who hurt themselves and mentally ill people who hurt other people.
Don’t disagree, but if he’s a danger who can’t control himself then he probably shouldn’t be out and about – otherwise he still bears responsibility.
Yeah. I’m saying if he is mentally ill, then he’s the sort who gets little to no pity from me. We can lock his ass up in a high-security institution instead of a prison.
WHOOOA fuck you. I have a mental health disorder and this is the most infuriating and ignorant comment I’ve read all year. How bout we lock you up for something you can’t control. Oh I have a better solution lets just kill all mentally ill people. Sounds up ur ally no?
You’re fucking sick
The whole Dan Clowes plagiarism ordeal (and taunting/needlessly escalating afterwards) says a lot about LaBeouf, I think. It’s an entirely different matter but I think it reveals an unstable narcissist who can’t see others as anything but props.
Yep, even setting aside the fact that he’s an abusive monster he’s also a profoundly irritating, talentless, overcompensating hack.
“when I see him all I can see is a poor rich white boy”So you immediately identify his colour as if it has any bearing on his pathology.He’s pretty clearly mentally ill, something you have decided to overlook. Interesting, because you make certain claims about your own “troubled” childhood with both physical and sexual abuse and anger issues mixed together and yet dismiss the possibility for Labeouf. Instead, he’s a “rich white boy” with an ego problem who has calculatedly decided that this is his “brand”.Nice.
yeah, its not like mentally ill white people do things that would get a mentally ill POC assaulted and/or killed by the authorities.and certainly fame and wealth have never allowed someone to escape the consequences of actions that those without wealth and connections would have to face.
Mentally ill white people get shot by cops all the time what are you on about?
“So you immediately identify his colour as if it has any bearing on his pathology.”I mean, if a black actor had pulled half the shit The Beef has, he’d be in jail right now.
Counterpoint: Chris Brown.
Chris Brown, the guy who’s done jail time? That Chris Brown?Thanks for making my point for me.
Mental illness is no excuse, he clearly has the means to help himself if he really wanted to. I mean I’m severely bipolar and until recently wasn’t able to afford to be on medication, but I never abused anybody (other than myself really) because of it, and if that ever does happen it won’t be solely because of mental illness, I mean you really got to be kind of a piece of crap on the inside to do that.
Yeah, and I have never abused anyone. He is a white spoiled celebrity who used his power and blessings to abuse. I have no sympathy for him. Anyone who abuses a woman is a pest who deserves everything thrown at him. This guy has had the world at his feet and all he has done is kick and scream about how much of a “troubled bad boy” he is. Sure, he is mentally ill, but that doesn’t excuse hurting other people.
in his case he is being pathologically white.
JFC shut the fuck up
I think you hit the nail on the head. It is like this little shitstain *wants* everybody to see him as a troubled bad boy who abuses women because “that’s, like, deep, man.”
as someone who has had to deal with mental illness all my life, it infuriates me no end that people are right quick to blame mental health for violent behavior that is all too common. this is a society that allows violence against women and constantly protects perpetrators from the consequences. it’s not mental illness causing this, its insecure masculinity coupled with the knowledge that they’ll never be held accountable for it.
Its long been rumored he is abusive towards his girlfriends. Mia Goth is another potential victim. Be interesting to see if more come out of the woodwork as abuser’s generally have a trail behind them, its pretty much never just one.
I think sometimes it comes down to grounding, y’know, what you do with your hurts. Sorry to hear you went through that.
It appears Dustin Hoffman levels of ‘method acting’ leads to Dustin Hoffman levels of assholery. Which movie was La Beouf involved in at the time? ‘The Tax Collector’? I bet he was acting just like his character. I understand LaBeouf wrote ‘Honey Boy’ while in rehab, which implies he has a significant substance abuse problem.
Anyone else see this and sigh and think, “Yeah, this might as well be a thing.”
I mostly want to know what she told her colleague, like is that person just a massive asshole for ignoring her or was it just poor communication that didn’t convey the issue clearly?
File this one under “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Right? Least surprising thing I’ve heard today.
I scrolled down to post literally the exact same words.
Why must you break my heart all over again like this
I was just so excited because who would EVER have thought that a) this GIF existed, and b) it would ever actually be applicable to anything?!
The incidents she relates are horrifying and I believe them completely. Hopefully Shia never acts in a film or play or TV show again. Actors are not entitled to a career after commiting abuse and he has had way more chances than are warranted.
I don’t think it’s a great sign when your “apology” is disturbingly reminiscent of the last lines of dialogue from American Psycho:My pain is constant and sharp, and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact, I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis; my punishment continues to elude me, and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself. No new knowledge can be extracted from my telling. This confession has meant nothing.
I hear LaBeouf is a Go-Go’s fan. In particular Belinda Carlisle’s solo career.
But have you seen his business cards though?
good luck, i sued him for the same shit after crystal skull but it was a no go
It’s easy for me to “CANCEL” him, because I don’t watch films with him in it. How does he have a career?
he tried so hard not to be goofy and succeeded? still kinda goofy though.
We knew this when he screamed at and threatened his girlfriend in public a few years back. Of course, no one cared.
God, she is SO beautiful and Shia’s only decent acting credit was in that one episode of Freaks and Geeks.
How the hell does Shia LaBeouf still have a career? Spacey, Gibson, Allen, Depp, etc., all produced critically acclaimed work, so there’s (however misguided) always some debate about how we’re supposed to separate artist from art and what it would take to redeem themselves in the public eye. Shia LaBeouf, on the other hand, is a vile, abusive lout…and he was also the most annoying part of some movies that made a lot of money? Would anyone honestly care if LaBeouf just fucked off forever?
His subsequent behavior notwithstanding, Spielberg saw his talent and potential over a course of years, and so did I. With all due respect, you’re not a better judge of screen acting talent than Spielberg.
Ah, yes, who could forget LaBeouf’s iconic portrayal of the character everyone hated in that Indiana Jones movie that practically everyone hated.
“hey, if we have him wearing a leather jacket and riding a motorcycle, people will have to think he’s cool. no need to emphasize that with character, demeanor or even decent writing.”
He was great in that Indiana Jones movie, it was Cate Blanchett that tanked it.
Counterpoint: Kate Capshaw in The Temple of Doom.
I hate that movie as much as anyone, and find her performance in it excruciating, but that’s what was asked of her, so it wasn’t her fault.
Awwww…I liked Kate Capshaw and loved Temple of Doom. It’s Last Crusade that’s the bad one of the three Indiana Jones movies. There were only ever three of them, none others even exist.
I heard that David Ayer really wanted Shia in that awful suicide squad movie (because of course he did) but that a major studio refused to cast him. Aside from Honey Boy, Shia seems to limit himself purely to low budget weird things. Money is likely irrelevant to his crazy lifestyle choices. I think it was a pretty mutual thing that Shia wants to indulge his pretentiousness in garbage no one sees and no major studio will touch him anymore.
Shia LaBeouf, on the other hand, is a vile, abusive lout…and he was
also the most annoying part of some movies that made a lot of money?Uhhhh that’s not true.Peanut Butter Falcon was an indie film and it was hugely successful on streaming. Also had critical acclaim. Released 2019.Honey Boy was his dream project and got good reviews.His last few roles have been acclaimed, he intentionally
moved away from films like Transformers. So if your definition of
success is “Hollywood action movies” then yeah he’s washed up, but if
its actual quality, he isn’t. His last few films have been Indie and
critically acclaimed.His next film is Pieces of a Woman, and that has an absolutely stacked cast of great actors.P.S. I’m not condoning the POS, but he definitely had a career in spite of all the things he did.
Man, when R. Patts breaks up with women, there’s no telling what they might do next. I mean, he must have put a whammy on Twigs to cause her to hook up with LaBeef.
There are plenty of actors who aren’t known abusers, so let’s all go watch one of their movies instead. Oh no! It’s cAnCeL cUlTuRe! AAAAIIIEEEEEE!!!!!!!
I’m over it. Fling him into the sun already. He’s had a million second chances, he has every advantage in the world because of his income (the best doctors, therapists, treatment centers, anything), and yet still he CHOOSES to be like this. Fuck ‘im.
So glad FKA/ Ms Barnett and Ms Pho finally got away from the crazed monster LaBeouf, before killed either one of them. Glad FKA didn’t get pregnant from this fool either. Can you imagine what his offspring would be like? Hyperactive spawns of the devil. Her public testimony is very important. Women need to know the signs of abuse. They creep up on you and before you know it, certain destructive behaviors become entrenched in the relationship just like Ms Barnett said. You find yourself going along with crazy disrespectful violent-prone I was particularly annoyed by LaBeouf’s nonchalant statements that I guess he thinks are apologies. They aren’t that’s why Ms Barnett took his dumb crazy azz to court. Smart woman.
I remember watching him in Holes way back in 2003 and thinking “wow this kid is very talented. He is going places.” I thought the same thing about Lindsay when Parent Trap came out. It’s sad to see that the palaces they went haven’t been all that bright.
Always knew he was a dick. It’s terrible that he’s allowed to have the same name as Glen Campbell’s character in True Grit.
Honestly, if your career launchpad was a Michael Bay ‘Transformers’ movie, then I don’t expect great things, both in their art or as a person.
I think his career was actually launched on the Disney channel. He was in Even Stevens and Holes when he was a kid. This shit behavior has probably been enabled for a looooong time.
Transformers was a launchpad for Megan Fox as well and she doesn’t strike me as a bad person? This is such a stupid take.
Looking back on generations of notorious celebrity woman abusers, would you say its the substance abuse that causes the woman abuse or would you say that its an innate personality flaw that leads to both the substance abuse and also the woman abuse?
All the men with substance problems who don’t abuse women or children tend to get erased in these discussions, which is actually pretty unfair to them.
Sometimes it’s one, sometimes it’s the other. In Johnny Depp’s case, for instance, I’d say the substance abuse led to his other problems. With Shia, Nick Carter, Lindsey Lohan and other troubled stars it’s likely they came out of the womb that way.
In the grand debate of nature versus nurture, I believe Shia is like this. I know for sure he copped to being like this even as far back as the first Transformers movie when EW did a profile on him and his background. He wasn’t raised by his parents who also had very short tempers and so on…Remember Nick Carter and all that stuff that whole family went through? Shia is basically just like that.
People have said something like mental illness, which is kinda there, but also implies a cure. I don’t know that there is.
There is a cure, really. Empathy is a capacity, but you can train it, turn it on and off. I can hate a motherfucker to death and it’s nothing to be proud of, but it won’t take away my capacity to love my close ones or cry at an injustice. Unless you are a psychopath, you elect to treat people a certain way.Like, clearly LaBeouf is capable of feeling some degree of it, given he’s able to feel empathy for himself and his abusive father via Honey Boy. Hell, clear he understands he did something wrong even in this non-apology. His pained upbringing and mental issues are not an excuse for this.
Forgive me if this is a dumb question: why would this be a civil suit and not a criminal one?
Because a private citizen can’t bring a criminal action to court? Civil suits also have a lower standard of proof, since only money is on the line.
Why am I not surprised about Shia? Sorry to hear that Barnett went through that. She’s young and strong, she’ll find ways to heal. re stis, it’s a common pattern of behaviour, to put everything they feel bad about themselves on to their partner. Emotions are hard! Muscles are easy. My ex was a terrible liar so I managed to protect myself, but when you’re in the thick of things and in love to boot, can be tough.
Didn’t even know they were a thing. Her music is so often full of pain, sucks to know it wasn’t just in her past, but in her present as well. He’s a fucked up guy, always has been. He’s been in that industry since he was knee high, and it sounds like it’s only served to make whatever damage he had worse. Stories of him pulling a tooth for a movie, getting drunk for a role (neither of which he was asked to do, and both of which were likely detrimental to his performance) and being belligerent to his co-stars. Guy has had huuuge fame, and like many before him, I think it’s probably only made him more isolated and exacerbated conditions that would have been difficult under normal circumstances. It’s a pity that will all that money, and all that privilege, more of these fucked up rich ass people can’t get their shit sorted before they go fucking up other people’s lives. Even if his response wasn’t exactly apologetic, at least it wasn’t a total cop-out and he’s admitting he’s a problem. If it’s genuine, it might mean he can turn this around and stop hurting other people…but then again, it might not.