Shia LaBeouf is facing allegations of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress from ex-girlfriend FKA twigs, who accused him of as much in a lawsuit, The New York Times reports. One incident described in the lawsuit occurred just after Valentine’s Day 2019 claims that LaBeouf, 34, was driving recklessly and threatening to crash the car if twigs, 32, didn’t profess her love for him.
The English singer-songwriter and actress claims she begged to be let out of the car and that when LaBeouf pulled over at a gas station, he followed her out of the car and assaulted her, throwing her against the car. They were driving home from a trip to the desert during which LaBeouf woke twigs up one night and choked her. “I’d like to be able to raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency,” twigs told the Times.
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Twigs, who was born Tahliah Debrett Barnett, also claims LaBeouf knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease. “What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life,” FKA twigs told the Times. “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.”
“I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel,” LaBeouf said in an email to the Times. “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.”
The report also includes comments from Karolyn Pho, a stylist who previously dated LaBeouf and also says she had “tumultuous experiences” with him. In a separate email to the Times, responding to FKA twigs and Karolyn Pho’s claims, LaBeouf wrote that “many of these allegations are not true,” but that he owed the women “the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability those things [he has] done.” He also wrote: “I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to doing what I need to do to recover, and I will forever be sorry to the people that I may have harmed along the way.”
LeBeouf has a history of turbulent behavior, having been arrested several times on charges that were ultimately dismissed, including assault and disorderly conduct. In 2015, strangers recorded a video of him arguing with his girlfriend at the time, actress Mia Goth, telling her, “This is the kind of thing that makes a person abusive.” After the men recording LaBeouf gave him a ride, he told them, “If I’d have stayed there, I would’ve killed her,” according to the video.
LaBeouf and Goth were married in Las Vegas in October 2016, but reportedly never filed their marriage license in Nevada. They went through various breakups before the wedding. In 2018, a rep for the actor confirmed that they split in 2018 and had filed for divorce. But in March 2020, LaBeouf and Goth again sparked marriage rumors when the American Honey actor was spotted wearing a wedding ring during an outing with Goth, who also sported a diamond ring and wedding band. That speculation came almost a year after LaBeouf and FKA twigs’ relationship ended.
