FKA Twigs used to be engaged to Robert Pattinson. Their thing ended without much public drama and then shortly afterwards, Twigs began dating Shia LaBeouf. They worked together on Honey Boy, the film Shia wrote and starred in. The script was something he worked on in court-ordered rehab after an arrest in Georgia in 2017. The rehab thing is significant because there was the hope – in the industry and with Shia’s fans – that perhaps the root of his problems was simply addiction and substance abuse, and if he sorted that out, perhaps everything else would fall into place, like the stories of his treatment of women, specifically intimate partners. Shia LaBeouf was still abusing women even after he got sober. Twigs has sued him for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress.
FKA Twigs has sued her ex-boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, accusing the actor of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. The musician, who filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, and the actor had dated for about one year in 2018 and 2019.
“Shia LaBeouf hurts women,” states the lawsuit, obtained by Variety. “He uses them. He abuses them, both physically and mentally. He is dangerous.”
LaBeouf once slammed the musician against a car and attempted to strangle her, according to the lawsuit, which also alleges he once pulled out a gun, telling her he had killed stray dogs, so that he could practice getting into the mindset of a killer. Variety has reached out to representatives for LaBeouf, who could not be immediately reached, as well as the plaintiff’s lawyer for additional comment.
“For too long, LaBeouf has sought to excuse his reprehensible actions as the eccentricities of a free-thinking ‘artist,’” the lawsuit states. “Even though his history of violent behavior was well-documented, many in the media have treated LaBeouf as a harmless figure of fun, which has helped enable him to perpetuate his cycle of abuse of women over the years. There is nothing funny about the exploitation of and battering of women.”
In today’s lawsuit, FKA Twigs, born Tahliah Barnett, lays out a slew of horrific allegations. The two met after working together on “Honey Boy,” and soon entered into a “tumultuous relationship,” according to the suit, which says the musician’s life became a “living nightmare” after LaBeouf had engaged in “grooming — gradually gaining Tahliah’s trust and confidence with the intent of abusing her.”
The lawsuit states that FKA Twigs is suing her ex-boyfriend to help other women, not for monetary reasons. “This action has been brought not for personal gain, but to set the record straight, and to help ensure that no more women must undergo the abuse that Shia LaBeouf has inflicted on his prior romantic partners,” according to the lawsuit. “The days in which LaBeouf can mistreat and harm women with impunity are over.”
If you go to Variety, they have a lengthy history of Shia’s run-ins with the law and the stories of his emotional and physical abuse of girlfriends/intimate partners which have run the course of his career, including Mia Goth. I’m so proud of Twigs for suing and for making this into a larger public story.
Some famous women have backed up Twigs – Olivia Wilde showed her support on social media (she briefly worked with Shia), and Sia tweeted this out.
I too have been hurt emotionally by Shia, a pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship claiming to be single. I believe he's very sick and have compassion for him AND his victims. Just know, if you love yourself- stay safe, stay away. https://t.co/2NNEj9w8b1
— sia (@Sia) December 13, 2020
Also I love you @FKAtwigs
This is very courageous and I'm very proud of you.
FKA Twigs Sues Ex-Boyfriend Shia LaBeouf for Sexual Battery – Variety https://t.co/qnVhrwTbjh
— sia (@Sia) December 13, 2020
Shia was seen out for a run the same day Twigs’ lawsuit became news.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, WENN.
I actually didn’t know you could sue someone for sexual battery and assault. Is there a reason why she couldn’t press charges for these? These are criminal acts. I hope I don’t sound harsh, just genuinely curious how this works.
The statute of limitations may have run on a criminal charge. Also, the standard of proof for a civil suit is lower, and only a civil suit rewards damages, which she has mentioned donating.
I think it is so notoriously difficult to get a criminal prosecution, and when people hear ‘not guilty’ they interpret it as ‘innocent’ and consequently say that the accuser therefore must be lying. I think its sensible to do it like this to be honest, although you’ll inevitably have types that do not believe her because she didnt go to police.
When I went to police, they straight up advised me not to bother because it was so unlikely to go anywhere. I felt so disappointed.
It’s not her decision to “press charges.” This is a common misunderstanding about the criminal justice system. An alleged victim has little to no ability to file criminal charges (some jurisdictions have something called a private right of action if the DA declines to prosecute). The decision to bring charges is exclusively the discretion of the prosecutor, who works for the state, NOT the alleged victim.
Is t the ‘press charges’ aspect the decision by a victim for the police to investigate? You hear victims, often in a DV case, ‘decline to press charges’ so, without the victim’s cooperation the case comes to a halt. The ‘file charges’ is what’s the discretion of prosecutors.
Yes & thank you, @Gruey, for pointing this out. The victim never gets to “press charges”, it’s the decision of the police & a possible grand jury if charges are going to be filed, and what those charges will be. When the police say “the victim declined to press charges”, what they mean is that the victim declined to cooperate. The police, if they have enough evidence, can still move charges forward, but it obviously hinders their prosecution if a victim and/or witness doesn’t want to cooperate, so they say they have decided not to cooperate by saying they declined to press charges.
I went to the police with solid evidence against my child rapist & it was explained that it was now out of my hands. I had no decision or input on what charges were filed, when, or what the final plea deals offered would be (plea deals are typically offered to perps to avoid the cost & risk of trials, so they plea to all sorts of “attempted” or lesser charges). I had to hire a detective to do the police’s jobs after they said it was a “family matter”, the case sat collecting dust, the perp ran around free to harass me & continued victimizing others.
As someone who has had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the police & detectives after a horrific assault, I never question why victims don’t go to the police. I do question the hell out of the system, though.
PSA: I’m speaking from many many years of dealing with these kinds of scenarios. DO NOT DATE MEN with ANY HISTORY of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. No rumors. NOTHING. The ex was not crazy. She wasn’t jealous. She wasn’t lying to try to get revenge. If you have the slightest doubt that I’m wrong, if you have the slightest temptation to dismiss any suspected violent history, please please read Why Does He Do That. One of the best books ever written about DV. Substances, mental health problems, stress etc. do not make men violent. Men are violent because it’s a very good strategy for getting what they want.
Everything you said, Gruey. Everybody needs to read that book: Why Does He Do That by Lundy Bancroft. You can find a free pdf on the internet if you can’t afford to buy it.
I just kept going to the police and allowing the DA to say “no”. I was able to free my child from him, but not before he gave her a brain injury. The DA didn’t have enough evidence. He strangled her and knocked her out. I couldn’t prove it, but now I have a permanent restraining order. He went to jail for stealing, not stalking me or trying to kill my kid. Money, not my kid’s life, not my life, mattered in court, but protecting money is what matters in the United States of America.
Anyone going through this needs to keep pressing charges and getting the police to write up the reports and send them to the DA. Even if the DA doesn’t convict, the record is important against men like Shia LeBoeuf.
@MM2, and am angry and sad about what you have endured.
You are a SHERO!!!
PRessing charges means they can do everything to protect he perpetrator including using your own or personal medical files and or private area pictures.That is why men still get away with rape because it’s built for them to get away with, And people like you who have not been assaulted think that they can actually get justice. You can’t get justice for rape unless you’re dead. Be safe.
Yes, Implicit, you are right about rape. My child and I were abused. Stranger and partner rape are both difficult to get convictions for.
I believe you can sue someone for battery if they intentionally gave you an STD, which it sounds like happened to her with him.
JT, I also had never heard of suing someone for this, rather than accusing of assault, etc. I am really glad she is telling her story and publicizing how easy it can be to fall into an abuser’s web. I’m rooting for her.
God, this just gets worse and worse. Poor Twigs/Tahliah. And that is so weird about Sia.
When I first read Shia LaBoeuf’s response to her filing, I was pleasantly surprised that for once an abuser was actually admitting to (at least some of) the abuse he’d been accused of, because that never seems to happen (e.g. other high profile alleged abusers like Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt etc. all just deny, deny, deny and then proceed to undertake systematic character assassinations of their victims). But the more I thought about it, the more it seems his statement was a very weaselly way of making himself the victim in all this, blaming his substance abuse problems for everything, and avoiding responsibility completely. He’s continuing to gaslight Twigs and his other victims and looking for sympathy and a sympathy comeback. Scumbag.
Jane, I thought the same thing too! I was surprised he admitted some culpability and I was like, hey, that’s a first, but the more I read over the weekend, I understood what he was trying to imply by that statement and it’s not ok. I fully believe her and I hope because of her courage and bravery more women come forward.
It wasn’t covered here (I don’t think) but this also happened (even more egregiously) recently with Melissa Benoist and her ex. And he did it just as she had a baby with her new husband which added to the shadiness.
“ it seems his statement was a very weaselly way of making himself the victim in all this”
Totally this. Her lawyer noted that they offered to settle privately if he agreed to get ongoing help. He refused. There is a certain brand of abuser (and addict) who enjoys pointing to their own victimhood (yes, Shia was a child abuse victim) and using it as an excuse for their behaviour. It avoids having to do the hard work of true penance and/or change.
Statements like this are telling: he’s poison. And he’s dangerous.
He listed himself as the first victim of his own abuse. Yeah, there is no humility or accountability in his statement.
There are many alcoholics & people who have been victims of past abuse who don’t abuse others, so that’s not the cause of his propensity to control & perpetrate violence. Insinuating this is disgusting to do to other alcoholics & survivors, if you think about. It’s his excuses, but not the cause.
THIS! Anyone who lists themselves as the first victim of their abuse after being exposed as a serial abuser sends a very clear red flag. I imagine he’s convinced himself that he’s working on being a better person, which in turn enables him to convince other people of the same.
@mm2 I’m so sorry you went through that. Child sexual assaults are notoriously difficult to prosecute and it takes specialized skills on the part of the DA to do so. Although some of this is changing because the general public has gotten better educated about why children don’t come forward about abuse for a long time.
Same here. My first thought was “at least he’s not denying it and is admitting he’s got problems” but you’re totally right, it’s just a way to deflect.
I am so sorry for all those who have been a victim of his abuse. I hope that FKA and the other women speaking out prevents someone else from failing victim to his abuse.
I didn’t see much remorse or accountability in his statement, period. UGH.
You’re absolutely right — this is a masterwork in gaslighting. He also made further statements essentially denying at least some of what FKA Twigs has alleged as well as the testimony a other former girlfriend — Karolyn Pho — gave in support of the lawsuit. From the NYT: “Presented with a detailed account of the claims that the women made against him, in interviews and subsequently in the lawsuit, Mr. LaBeouf, responding in a separate email, wrote that ‘many of these allegations are not true.’ But, he continued, he owed the women ‘the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done.’”
The condescension and gall and *audacity* to deny it and try to paint himself in a positive light — oh, how gracious of domestic abuser Shia LaBoeuf to allow his victims the air the statements that he claims are false! — is sickening. I hope we’re finally done with him professionally now.
I am so so proud of her, im crying a little bit. I have always liked her and will continue to support her even more after this.
This is very courageous and it is my hope that hers, ambers, and other women’s actions will help curb dangerous men’s actions.
My first reaction was that it could never happen to someone like her, she seems like such a bad a**, but it’s a great reminder that this kind of abuse can happen to anyone. Tough women, smart women, rich women all can be abused. Super proud of all women who stand up like this.
ALL of these comments made me tear up. I’m SO with your statements that anyone can become a victim of abuse, and good for her for sharing this and holding him accountable for his actions.
That’s what makes me so angry about it. We work so hard to develop self-confidence in ourselves and our daughters, and these abusers zero in like guided missiles. We have a right to be respected. We have a right to be safe.
This 100%. It was brave she stepped forward and I hope she gets lots of love and support as she deals with this horrible situation.
Shia has a history of violence and abuse. It has been widely reported that he was abused throughout his childhood, but I really hope for his sake and for the sake of his future partners, he is able to break this vicious cycle.
Me too. I feel like her coming out and just putting it ALL out there is her biggest “eff you” to her abuser. Sometimes survivors are embarrassed, they have NOTHING to be embarrassed about but I can fully understand not wanting to share these particular stories with the world, but in doing so she is going to help SO many others. I am not familar with her music, but I am going to check it out now because I couldn’t be more impressed with her as a human being and am ready to support her in anythig she does. I hope she realizs how GD kick ass she is.
+1
Too many in the comments section on social media are quick to give Shia credibility and inadvertent support by saying things like “at least Shia admitted it! At least he’s not denying it!” Etc…I had to educate a few that it is just another classic strategy from an abuser, when caught, act self reflective and admit to SOME wrongdoing so they can control the damage to their reputation. He is getting sued because he refused to get actual help. An “apology” without changed behavior is just more manipulation.
This so much, his statement was pretty‘ much a case of “I did it but what can you do it is what it is”. And people are falling for that bullshit
He is also retaining the ability to deny any legal wrong doing by just generally admitting that some things did happen but not specifying what. That way, he can pretend to be all sorry, but still trying to get off scot free. So really, this apology is worth nothing.
Exactly. What striked me about his statement is that he actually isn’t taking responsability (it’s because of his addiction,he’s sick so he can’t help being abusive) and that he’s really quick to point out that he hurts himself too,in fact he put that BEFORE the hurt he’s done to others.
Typical abuser behavior to deny culpability because they are also, if not more of, a victim in their own eyes. It’s the exact opposite of taking full responsibility. It’s always someone else’s fault that they behave the way they do. Most victims of abuse do not go on to become abusers. Many alcoholics are not abusive to loved ones, only themselves. He denied that the incidents alleged even happened so I’m not sure why anyone is giving him credit.
What a psycho I am shocked. He needs to be arrested and put to jail right now. And pay her money after.
When I read he intentionally infected her with an STD/I I was beyond furious. My friends older sister found out her husband was cheating on her, as a result she had a full tests for STD taken and found she had chlamydia and sadly for her, it had already badly damaged her to the point she’s now can no longer conceive. I really hope FKA Twigs receives some justice for what this POS put her through.
I feel for your friend’s older sister, what a horrible situation. That is why I always disagree when people dismiss others cheating as not being a big deal. If the other person is careless, it can end badly.
That’s heartbreaking. 🙁 He’s denied her the right to have biological children if that was her desire. Took the choice right away from her. If she wants children, hopefully that will still work out fir her.
I’m so sorry for you friend’s sister. Chlamydia is a silent and destructive disease. STI is how I confirmed my exhusband’s cheating. I’m ok now, I was lucky it was a curable sti.
Cheating is physical abuse.
Oh that’s horrible.
I know who the women are. I have no idea who this twerp is. I mean I know he’s an actor but if he’s been in anything I’ve seen, I’ve instantly forgotten him because I genuinely can’t remember a single thing he’s done of note. Maybe there was something and he’s fallen so far from it I just don’t recognize him. He looks like a nothing burger. If he were a woman with this apparent track record of being difficult, he’d have been discarded by the industry long ago. He needs to be Depped out. Buh bye. You go FKA Twigs! Crush him.
He was a child actor, primarily. I only know him from I Robot with Will Smith.
LaBeouf got his start as a Disney kid star and became a big deal back in the first Transformers/Money Never Sleeps/Disturbia days—he was a Spielberg next-big-thing. I thought his profile had diminished because Hollywood failed to make him happen enough to justify the hype. This comes as no surprise, however.
The reason was because he started to have huge alcoholic issue . He already was been arrested by drunk fight in a shop at this time. I don’t know what happened during Transformer 3 but during this filming that his behavior changed
I thought some his bad behavior soured things? Maybe being difficult and demanding on set without the cred or ability to back it up. Ala Ed Norton but less talented.
i never liked him, and he looks like a psychopath…. But all these lawsuits really confuse me – okay, if he assaulted her physically, sure she must report and so on, but things like “gradually gaining Tahliah’s trust and confidence with the intent of abusing her” sounds extremely vague for me… Of course, I dont know American legal system… But seriously, people cause each other “emotional distress” all the time…. And many men could also claim that women “gradually gain their trust and confidence with the intent of abusing”, like exploiting men for money and perks, for ex… I mean , saying mean things in the relationships or even cheating is not a crime. It’s bad, but it’s not smth to sue for… Imagine a guy suing a woman, because “she said im a loser and she lied and cheated on me”…. that’s ridiculous…
That’s just laying out the groundwork for how he groomed her before abusing her. He choked her, slammed her against a car and intentionally concealed an incurable STD from her which led to her contracting it, among other things.
It’s a bit more than ‘ saying mean things!’ He gave her an std and threatened to crash a car with her in it and smashed her head against a car boot in broad daylight when she tried to get away! Her allegations are incredibly specific. I didnt find them vague at all. Only vague if you think the only domestic violence is physically hitting someone, which it is not. Psychological and emotional abuse is still abuse. He hadn’t even denied it! The only mystery is why that POS is even employed in Hollywood. He has been a POS for a long time. Women are blackballed in Hollywood for shoplifting yet he gets jobs?
I think that this is to highlight the process of many abusers. Look into love bombing as a tactic. Many abusers actually follow a very similar playbook in how the slowly groom the victim into gradually living with behaviour they would otherwise never accept.
This. I think it is also to drive home the fact that ANYONE can fall into this situation because the abuse and control starts subtly and then ramps up with each transgression. If he presented himself as a psychopath right from the get go, none of these women would have fallen for him. Also, women are taught to be trusting and forgiving, which these abusers prey upon.
Yes, 100%. FKA Twigs said that she intentionally made sure to mention those types of behaviors because as awful as the choking and physical assault are, they are more commonly the types of actions that we think of when we talk about abuse. Gaslighting, emotional isolation, negging – these are all abusive behaviors as well, and because they’re not as obvious as a punch to the face they can be much more insidious and therefore harder to escape.
By coming forward and making sure that the mental and emotional aspects of their relationship were documented too, FKA hoped to educate girls and women that these types of behaviors can be red flags for future abuse that they shouldn’t ignore.
I remember an interview of Evan Rachel Wood where she stated how the abuser grooming you it’s textbook behaviour .
I often wondered what had happened to FKA Twigs, after she and Pattinson broke up: she disappeared. Now we know why.
This is not a lawsuit over him “saying mean things.” Read the article.
No, gaining someone’s trust is indeed how abusers start operating. Most people won’t stay with a person who right on the first date starts abusing them, will they? They start being nice and by the time their victims realize what they have gotten into, it’s hard for them to walk out.
“gaining someone’s trust is indeed how abusers start operating” sounds just really unscientific and unprovable to me, that was my point .
I really don’t get what your point is here @lana86. She is not suing him for ‘gaining her trust’ or ‘saying mean things in the relationships or even cheating’. It says in the article that she is suing him for sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. Those, I assume, are crimes that have been defined and specified in law. So what exactly sounds unscientific and unprovable?
@lana86 – this is textbook behaviour from narcissists. Unless you’ve been through this situation you cannot imagine how insidious it can be. I’ve been through it. First comes the love-bombing – you’re the most amazing, gorgeous, wonderful person they’ve ever met, it was love at first sight, you’re my dream come true. Then after you’ve become comfortable with this person, the gentle nagging and constant correcting start. Then it escalates to you not being good enough, you’re not the person I thought you were. Finally it turns into full-on emotional/psychological/ physical abuse, gas-lighting and infidelity.
This is scientific and provable – just ask any psychiatrist or psychologist who has treated people with this disorder.
@Lana86: Why do you have the desire to try & discredit this obvious victim of abuse? Why do you choose to nitpick one point of the statement & ignore the big picture? Maybe you should sit with yourself & contemplate why your knee jerk reaction was to diminish this man’s abuse & attack pieces of the victim statement?
I’m not trying to be rude, but seriously saying that you should spend time on what lessons you learned about abuse in your own life & why you want to minimize other’s abuse. Please don’t use this defense mechanism you have when dealing with people who may have been victims in your real life.
@Lana86 talks like a dudebro
@Lana86 is sealioning. It’s pretty obvious.
And it’s disgusting to ignore all the obvious abuse that was caused but to claim that she is just suing him for saying mean things… GTFO
I love that Twigs came forward. BC she’s right – if a person with fame, money and a good circle of friends can end up in an abusive relationship, anyone can. I think a lot of victims are ashamed and embarrassed. I commend her. Also, she is a fantastic choreographer and her videos are visually stunning.
She is hella talented & I wish her all the best. I really admire her strength right now.
Don’t leave out the part (detailed in the public filing) where he (allegedly) not only KNOWINGLY gave her an incurable STD, but deliberately concealed the preceding flare-up. It’s a big deal to make something like that public on top of the abuse trauma and I’m so damn proud of her for holding her head high while telling the world EXACTLY what he did to her and how he got away with it.
I agree, she’s incredibly brave and he’s just…. a terrible human being. To cover it up and pass it along to multiple women just makes me sick.
In the UK that’s a criminal offence – is the same not true in the US?
This is a selfless act to protect all potential future victims and I’m applauding her for it!
What a monster Shia is. Just everything… he will never get help until they freeze him out of his industry and make him get real help. Until he has no more enablers he will keep going.
Anyone else view Shia as one of those pseudo intellectuals that are actually murderous sociopaths?
Jane
I believe it changes state to state.
Yes, it is a crime in the U.S. but any crime regarding intent is rarely prosecuted here because it is extremely hard to prove someone intentionally committed a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors tend to stick to charging for crimes that do not specify intent because they just have to prove that the criminal act happened, not the state of mind of the perpetrator.
Also by pressing a lawsuit in this forum, she is putting all of Hollywood on alert that this is what he does. So if he’s hired for another project and meets someone there and any abuse happens, the studios can be legally responsible for negligent hire, negligent retention and negligent supervision. So good for her because even if the studios believed his abuse resulted from his substance abuse before, they know the truth now and can face serious consequences if they ignore it and give him a platform to find other victims.
All of that, yes!
And I hope it’s also a signal to other abusers like him, that they too can get outed like this and suffer some consequences.
Thats a good point. She knows Hollywood doesnt give a stuff about anything but making money and now they risk losing money if he assaults another person on set. Other women will hopefully also be on red alert.
This is so brave of her and smart.
I think her statement was incredibly well done, by highlighting that she herself would have never thought that she’d end up in a relationship like that and that she would have had means to get out yet still was unable to do so. I think that this conversation is incredibly important!
As important it is to highlight the plight and danger for psychologically, socially and economically ‘vulnerable’ women and do to everything in our power to support them, I am also fearful that this creates the narrative that there is something within the women that makes them the victim. That it is a quality of them, the victims, rather than the quality of the perpetrators.
So I think it is incredibly important and commendable that women such as twigs come forward so that we all understand that becoming a victim of domestic abuse can really happen to everyone, and that it is not so easy to get out like it might seem from the outside.
Agree completely. Good post
I 100% believe her. His apology was a non-apology. It was very carefully written to sound apologetic while using phrases like “may have” and drawing attention to his addiction problems instead. His main problem isn’t that he’s an addict. It’s that he’s a monster.
I’m just finishing up a semester in a substance abuse issues classes for a graduate psychology program, and I learned in that class although people may sometimes be violent when they’re high, it’s exceedingly rare for substance abuse to “cause” domestic violence or other forms of chronic physical abuse. It’s far more common that 1) the same psychological history/trauma history/personality factors that make a person susceptible to developing a substance abuse problem also predispose a person to being violent/abusive, or 2) the person first begins using substances to cope with feelings of guilt or shame over pre-existing violent behaviors.
@wintrymix this is exactly right. And blaming substances is not just a strategy for shifting blame, it’s also a way to confuse and disorient the victim. You can tell them that their criminal history was all while they were using, and now they’re sober. You can dangle getting drug treatment as a way to lure someone back into the relationship. I’m sure there will be plenty of members of the public ready to excuse him because of his substance issues.
“His main problem isn’t that he’s an addict. It’s that he’s a monster.”
Um, yes. I see that crazy basically every day. He lives a couple of houses down the street in an otherwise very quiet neighborhood and he is constantly on pap runs. Like clockwork. He’ll make three or four passes a day if they don’t show up. I’ve watched him lying in the grass on the berm across the street and carrying on and yelling as he performs on his phone in the middle of the road. It’s completely odd. He’s totally loud– you can often hear him screaming in the street or from his yard.
I believe it. Covering up his herpes dick sores with make up was not an addict thing, it was a fucking asshole thing.
This story is so horrible. It had to be so hard for Twigs to go public with this, and I’m glad to see the support she’s getting.
I wish she’d stayed with Pattinson. I liked them together.
So did I, but I think ‘Cellophane’ says it all.
There’s always been something a little disturbing about Shia’s lapped up, cutesy PR redemption narrative. Part of it was the cruelty of how less problematic behaviors and annoyances from women are still seen as grounds to mock or dismiss their abuse- sometimes even when the abuse includes assault. But it was also because he just seemed so dangerous. The violence. And now even more has come out about him. It couldn’t have been easy for FKA Twigs to share all this, but it’s good that she’s getting support. And that others are being helped by her story too.
And yet, before you know it, he’ll attract another woman into his web of abuse, spinning her all kinds of victim tales, and the grief his exes put him through.
Despite seeing all the ways in which our culture has failed us, I’m still surprised that Shia LaDouche wasn’t canceled before this. It’s very brave of Twigs to come out and baldly tell us what he did and why he needs to be stopped.
Shia LeBouef has had this reputation for a while and I was alarmed that FKA Twigs started dating him. i hate that he starred in Sia’s video with Maddue Ziegler and i know a family whose teenage daughter hung out at MOMA every day for some weeks while he was involved in some art exhibition there. He learned the daughter’s name, chatted with her, and greeted her often. This suit is important because the extent of his abuse has not been publicized enough. He shouldn’t be allowed around adult women, much less teenage girls.
Also, much love and support to Twigs. Even while undergoing all of this, she was profiled in the NYT for her artistic excellence. I hope she remembers what an insanely talented and worthy person she is, and that with more therapy she can shake off his influence on her feelings about herself.
There’s a really disturbing account of LaBeouf being verbally abusive to Carey Mulligan at a premiere party when they were dating 10 years ago in a old item in NY Magazine’s Intelligencer:
“ At last night’s premiere of An Education, burgeoning star Carey Mulligan was shining in all her chic, cute glory — until her liquor-swilling boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, picked a lovers’ spat! Earlier in the night, Mulligan had mused longingly on the suburban gentlemen in her sixties period piece: “I love the way the men dress [in the film],” she told us. “They just look so chivalrous. It’s so nice to have a door held open for you. And they do it when they’ve got their hats on. In real life they don’t always do that.” No, it appears they don’t, as LaBeouf — who wouldn’t talk to us, even though we were all excited to ask him if he’s ever had an affair with an old person, like his girlfriend’s character in the film — was drinking his own whiskey at the wine bar.”
“Outside the party, seemingly hidden from the view of paps (but not Intel!), LaBeouf cornered Mulligan and did all sorts of arm-raising and angry-facing before storming off into the night. Watching the spat, we wondered if this will be one of those moments Mulligan looks back on when she wonders where if their relationship went awry. The night he picked that fight at my big premiere, she’ll think. Anyway, Mulligan — who remained composed throughout the talk — patted her dress down, held her head high, and walked back inside the premiere party. We can see what Anna Wintour likes about this girl.”
Jeez what on earth does he do to get all these talented independent women to go out with him? Twigs, Sia and Carey Mulligan all seem such intelligent women with good careers. Just goes to show it can happen to anyone.
This makes me sad. He defended me and another girl who was abused by the same person I was and hated the person who did it to us. Life is confusing.
Abusers often hide behind public displays of righteousness (see: every priest and Boy Scout leader and youth pastor who rape kids). It’s a great way to instantly gain a bunch of staunch, unquestioning defenders and to create doubt in reasonable people’s minds. Seriously every woman should read Why Does He Do That. It would help us all see through the bullshit. It help me process a bad relationship that bordered on emotionally abusive and has helped me make decisions about who to date going forward.
I read the article a couple days ago and can’t believe with all his documented behaviors (abuse, racism, addiction) that he has continued to work in Hollywood for years with no repercussions. Mediocre white men can get away with nearly everything. Hopefully this lawsuit stops that. He is an abusive piece of crap and need to go away for a long time.
As someone who has been sober over 33 years, I can tell you that based on my personal experience both drinking and sober, and observation of those around me who get sober–violence and controlling behavior is generally an inherent characteristic of in an individual and not the inevitable, or even common, end result of substance abuse. “If you sober up a drunken horse thief, you still have a horse thief.” I suspect he will always be battling his violent character ,and his need to abuse and control women, and relationships with him should be avoided at all costs. His problems go deeper than substance abuse. That said, staying sober will help him control these behaviors and I certainly wish that for him–and the people around him.
It’s no surprise that the Hollywood industry let him get away with this behavior. They do it and have done it with other actors who are known to be abusive, but they look the other way because they make them money. What puzzles me, however, are actors like Dax Shepard who know this guy’s reputation and still invite him on his podcast. Remember when he gave Casey Affleck a pass for sexual assault? Why do other actors not hold each accountable? Probably because they believe if some of them go down, the system might fall apart and power would be dismantled. (Apparently, Purple People includes abusive assholes, too.)
Cancel This Jerk
This is incredibly brave of her and I hope she can find peace.
The stigma around abuse victims is heartbreaking. So many people think it won’t happen to them because “they know better,” but the truth is many abusers are master manipulators. We are all vulnerable in love and abusers absolutely know that. My mom is the toughest, take no sh#t person I’ve ever met and her first marriage was to an alcoholic abuser. Even 4 decades later she says she still loved him long after she finally left him. He put her in the hospital. If my mom can become the victim of domestic violence, literally anyone can.
How would she even speak to this guy who’s been in the news for concerning behavior. What he did to her is CRIMINAL but he had that tattoo on his forehead head when she met him, correct?
So you’re saying she is at fault for him abusing her, lets just be clear here.
You also need to mention that this “ When filming “The Tax Collector,” LaBeouf got so into character, according to the lawsuit, he took on the role of a gangster in real life, and claimed to drive around Los Angeles, shooting stray dogs dead, so that he could get into the “mindset” of a killer.” He is freaking sick!
I remember that. And that he attacked Tom Hardy on set (I think the movie was called Lawless ?)
I am very proud of FKA Twigs for doing this. Sometimes we throw around the word brave, but THIS imo is brave because she has had to disclose matters that could harm her future relationships and matters that could cause her to lose opportunities in this very dark industry that prefers silence.
Terrible, but not entirely shocking to learn he was a domestic abuser since he had a history of violence in the past in different situations. It’s one of the reasons I’m always a bit wary of people who like..get in constant bar fights and shit…because that sort of quick temper and easy trigger can easily spill over into the domestic sphere, too. Obvs., bar fights are also bad. Twigs is very brave.
You are right to be. Any history of violence is an enormous red flag that this person does not need to control their reactions to their emotions. Becoming violent is an enormous act of entitlement. We ALL feel anger. We all have impulses. But violent people do not feel they need to control those impulses.
This is very well said.
This guy has been a loser for years and this news didn’t shock me in the slightest. FKA deserves all the support.
He singularly ruined Indiana Jones #4 for me (that one never exists in the Indiana Jones canon). I hope his career tanks. He looks like a crazy MAGAT Proud Boy
Every part of this is digusting. There is no word play in what she says, not just vague references to being bullied and one sided accounts of arguments, but specific examples of psycological and physical abuse. However, I think it is dangerous to dismiss him as a ‘MAGAT Proud Boy’, even in jest. Doing that suggests that you can recognise monsters by their appearance or their politics (although that can be true). Monsters can be outwardly repectable, church going types. The one time I personally experienced misogyny it was from the last one you would have picked out from a group of friends. The tatooed, bike riding, atheist welder was an absolute sweetheart. The big brusier in his 60s who had done time in prison never once made me feel unwelcome or underqualified to be there. It was the young medical professional with his nice house and lovely family that did everything he could to undermine me and humilaiate his wife behind her back.
Obviously, he’s a piece of shit and deserves to be have his day in court, and she is in no way responsible for what he did to her, but goddam, I am literally begging young people to start learning the red flags and signs of abuse and stop brushing them aside as situational. That video of Mia Goth was out there for years already. We all watched him insidiously threatening her on camera while she sobbed in fear. That shit needs to be taken at face value for how serious the behavior is.
“BUT HE/SHE WAS SO CHARMING??” Yes, they always are. That’s how they lure you in. It isn’t hard to lie about what you are when you have absolutely no real consideration for the other person as a human being.
I’m glad she’s going public with this and is brave enough to fight, but God, I wish it wasn’t a lesson she had to learn in the hardest and most traumatic way possible.
It honestly sounds like you are blaming the victim. He obviously threatened and tormented her. The onus is not on her to magically know who’s going to be an abuser and have expert psychological insight into every behavioral clue. The entire point is you’re lured in and then you’re caught. It is NOT her fault and she didn’t do anything wrong. The abuser is at fault. Not the victim.
In an ideal world Elizabeth, I’d say your absolutely right and in theory I agree. However I have a young daughter and as she grows and starts developing romantic interests I absolutely intend on educating her about common red flags and patterns exhibited by abusers. It won’t be an infallible education but I know there are things I wish an adult had warned me about certain behaviors when I was growing up and trying to navigate toxic relationships. I will also make it clear that should she end up in an abusive relationship it isn’t her fault. These two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
A big problem in our society is women are taught not to trust their instincts. NEVER make your child hug someone they don’t want to, NEVER discount when they are concerned about something or someone, or they seem “off”.
Stating the need for better social education about blatant abuse tactics and red flags is not victim blaming. There’s blaming people for being victims, and then there acknowledging the reality that abusers are out there and willing to take advantage of the naive. They thrive on finding the uninitiated, vulnerable, and unaware to sink their claws into them. Every person I know who grew up or had experience in abusive relationships watched that video with Mia Goth went HOLY SHIT because we’ve all learned the hard way from our families and partners that it was a bunch of red flags piled on top of each other. That was an abuser so drunk on power he had no problem showing the world. We all saw it.
Pretending that abusers just magic out of nowhere is ridiculous and harmful. The signs are there if you know how to recognize them. There is a pattern that abusers follow from charming to manipulative to isolation and then increasing escalation. For those of us who’ve dealt with abusers, we knew the signs intimately; for the rest, there are books and papers and tons of anecdotes from survivors. It can be taught in schools if we so choose – hell, we train teachers and caretakers to recognize signs of abuse. I have had to literally intervene with friends at least twice because I recognized a pattern of behavior they couldn’t see in their partners because they had none of the personal experiences I had and nobody taught them. That shit is terrifying to me – what would’ve happened if I hadn’t been in their lives to warn them? Why the hell aren’t we preparing adults to recognize some of those flags on their own?
FKA Twigs didn’t deserve to be abused. I’m glad she’s speaking out because she’s one of the few victims he’s chosen that may have the money and power to take him to task. But I ache for the thought of how she had to learn this lesson when there was so much evidence, literally on camera and publicly available, serving as a warning to how abusive, cruel, manipulative, and unstable this man was. Saying we need to educate people better to recognize these signs is not an indictment of her character. It’s an indictment of every person in her life and the society she grew up in that never bothered to teach her to recognize danger when it’s in front of her face or overlook the instinct to give people like him the benefit of the doubt…or think they can be the one woman he‘ll treat better. Because at the end of the day, it is her, not him, who is going to have to live with the cost of the trauma.
This whole story is horrifying. I would have thought the same as FKA Twigs, I would never have expected her to end up in a relationship with a monster like Shia. I wasn’t even aware they had been together, I think she is now dating a member of the band The 1975 and I hope that guy is more stable and treats her like a queen. She is incredibly brave to go forward with her story and I’m so glad Sia is also supporting her (unclear if Shia also abused Sia but it seems he definitely deceived her). His ex-girlfriend Karolyn Pho I think also may have accused him of abuse as well? I wonder what Mia Goth suffered at his hands (I think they were even married!).
I had to go back through old posts because I missed the Goth/LeBeouf breakup and had no idea what the timeline was on any of this… good for her on getting out of that. And good for Twigs. Shia LaBeouf is a total mess. I’m surprised he keeps nabbing these ladies in the first place. I hope this warns off whoever would have been his next targets.
Mia was photographed with Shia a few times in April/May this year and it was rumoured they were back together :/ I hope she is okay.
I bet he did the same thing to Mia. I bet he cheated. She was photographed with Shia some months ago, but I’m sure he was seen with other women after those pics. I don’t think they are still dating.
So brave of her and I commend any woman for doing the selfless act of coming forward. My friend went through a horrific trial and the trauma from courts and police only added to her turmoil.
Dream of the day the abusers of hollywood (looking at you Pitt, Penn, Depp) and their enablers (CAA) no longer have a platform to perpetuate the suffering of victims.
What do commenters think they’re proving/accomplishing when they read about abusers and have to pipe in with “I didn’t even know who this guy is/I never liked his work anyway—not talented!”? It’s not about you. Are you trying to prove that you have correct/better taste in performers, or people, or something? Good for you, but it’s irrelevant. The story is about the guy being an abuser and the damage he inflicts on women, and the larger story of how common this sort of abuse is.
There were stories about Shia back when he was with Carey Mulligan. Also, I thought him and Mia Goth reunited in the spring. Hope she is doing okay.
Here’s a little nugget. Olivia Wilde supposed to direct Shia (as the male lead) in her 2nd feature film, Don’t Worry Darling, but things went so out of hand with him BEFORE SHOOTING, that Wilde was forced to choose between him & Florence Pugh. Olivia easily passed on him for Pugh & replaced Labeouf with Harry Styles. And she now publicly supports FKA Twigs. So within 6 months she went from “I want you to play the male lead in my movie” to “I believe & support your ex, who say you assulted her”. That says a lot about Shia…
On other sites, there’s so much hate for FKA Twigs. It’s like blame the victim.
Much love and support to Twigs. But I really dislike Sia jumping on the bandwagon. Being cheated on and being abused are not the same thing, let’s not try to diminish victims of DV experience or equate it with a normal shitty relationship we all go through. I get the attempt at solidarity but it just feels disingenuous to me.
What happened between him and Sia??? Did they date? I read she has serious mental issues as well. But is that true? This is just awful. How could someone hurt that girl Twigs (or any girl) she is the tiniest most precious looking person. What is his story?! Does he try to play it off as some kind of “method” acting? His wife was so tiny and frail as well. Is that his thing? I’m sorry I’m all over the place. My mind is racing.
I know one person who will be onboard with Twigs, and that is Melissa Benoist. She went through some horrific abuse with Blake Jenner and spoke out.
Nobody deserves this kind of treatment and good on her for not putting up with it as well as publicly calling him out.