Nearly four years after an initial lawsuit was filed, Shia LaBeouf is set to appear in court over the alleged abuse of his ex-girlfriends, British singer FKA Twigs and stylist Karolyn Pho.
The alleged abuse became public knowledge in 2020, when FKA Twigs (real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett) filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing the Transformers actor of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress.
The pair had entered into a relationship after meeting on the set of LaBeouf’s semi-autobiographical film Honey Boy in mid 2018, and dated for roughly a year before calling things off.
In the filing, Barnett alleges that LaBeouf threw her against a car, woke her up by choking her, endangered her life by threatening to crash a car they were both in and that he knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease.
The lawsuit also includes allegations from another of LaBeouf’s exes, stylist and costume designer Karolyn Pho, who claims that during their relationship LaBeouf once headbutted her so hard he drew blood.
LaBeouf has rebutted the claims, telling The New York Times that “many of these allegations are not true.” But also acquiesced that he owed Barnett and Pho “the opportunity to air their statements publicly”, and needed to “accept accountability for those things I have done.” In 2021, his lawyers denied the allegations, saying that LaBeouf did not cause harm to Barnett. They also claimed that the sexual battery allegations should be dismissed as "none of the acts alleged were based on sex and/or the conduct was not sexual".
The 38-year-old's team also said that his "alleged conduct was reasonably necessary for his self-defence and/or safety.”
However, in 2022, LaBeouf addressed the abuse allegations on Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, though he never officially named Barnett. “I hurt that woman,” he said. “And in the process of doing that, I hurt many other people, and many other people before that woman. I was a pleasure-seeking, selfish, self-centered, dishonest, inconsiderate, fearful human being.”
Ahead of the trial, here is a full breakdown of the abuse allegations and what’s surfaced since about LeBeouf’s behaviour in his relationships.
The claims made by FKA Twigs and Karolyn Pho
The lawsuit filed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in December 2020 accuses LaBeouf of “relentless abuse.” For FKA Twigs, the claims include an incident of dangerous driving where LaBeouf removed his seatbelt and threatened to crash the car they were both in unless she professed her love for him.
The 36-year-old singer also claims that LaBeouf knowingly gave her an STD, would squeeze or grab her to the point of bruising, once woke her up by choking her, and once threw her against a car.
According to Barnett’s claims, LaBeouf also slept with a gun by his bed, leaving her scared to go to the bathroom at night in case he mistook her for an intruder and shot her. She also claims the actor also had a specific quota for how often Barnett would need to kiss or touch him.
Meanwhile, Pho claims that LaBeouf once drunkenly pinned her to the bed and headbutted her so hard that she bled.
Barnett and Pho both claimed that LaBeouf disliked when they would speak to male waiters at restaurants, so much that Barnett learned to look down when other men spoke to her.
Reflecting on the alleged abuse, FKA Twigs told The New York Times, “What 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.”
LeBeouf’s history of ‘turbulent’ behaviour
As well as the claims made by FKA Twigs and Karolyn Pho, LaBeouf has a long history of being attached to headlines and claims of concerning behaviour, including a public altercation with his partner Mia Goth in 2015. As strangers recorded the argument, LaBeouf can be heard saying, “This is the kind of thing that makes a person abusive.”
After, one of the men recording LaBeouf gave him a lift, he said to them on camera: “If I’d have stayed there, I would’ve killed her.”
Goth and LaBeouf have since reunited and welcomed a daughter together in 2022.
LaBeouf also has a history of involving himself in confusing public stunts. He has openly spoken about his struggles with mental health and addressed these stunts in an interview with Variety in 2016.
“I was an open wound bleeding on everything,” he told the publication.
In the same interview, he talked about incidents such as wearing a paper bag on his head that said “I am not famous anymore”, and live streaming himself watching his whole filmography. “I don’t think I’d be working with the directors I’ve been working with if I had not f***ed up a bit,” he said.
“They wanted a f***ing fireball. They wanted a loose cannon. I’m learning how to distill my ‘crazy’ into something manageable, that I can shape and deliver on the day.”
LaBeouf denies some abuse claims and cites alcoholism
In a statement sent to The New York Times when the news of the lawsuit first broke, LaBeouf first appeared apologetic, saying, “I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behaviour made them feel. I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalisations.
“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.”
He went on to dispute the more specific allegations, saying, “Many of these allegations are not true.” But also said that the women involved deserve “the opportunity to air their statements publicly and [to have him] accept accountability for those things I have done.”
LaBeouf then referenced his “PTSD and alcoholism”, saying he is “a sober member of a 12-step program” and was undergoing therapy. “I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism," he told The New York Times, “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.”
The aftermath of the filing and time since
Since the filing, LaBeouf has been in two relationships. First, with Maid star Margaret Qualley, around December 2020, and secondly, with his long term on-and-off-again partner Mia Goth, with whom he is thought to have rekindled in 2021. Goth and LaBeouf welcomed their first child together in 2022.
He has remained largely out of the public eye until this spring, when he appeared on the Cannes red carpet for the premiere of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, in which he stars.
On FKA Twigs part, she has spoken about her experience with LaBeouf on a handful of occasions. In an interview with British Vogue this March, she said: “I think naively I thought it would be like any other breakup, that I’d be sad for six months to a year, and then one day I’d wake up and everything would be fine.”
“But the fact is being abused changes the whole of your nervous system,” she continued. “Because my window of tolerance is now much smaller than it used to be, my body manifests stress in quite extreme ways — it really shows me when it’s upset.”
Barnett is also seeking $10 million in compensation from LaBeouf to compensate for her “lost wages, lost professional opportunities and emotional distress.” Meanwhile, LaBeouf’s team alleges that this would be “financially ruinous” for LaBeouf.
The trial is set to commence this October, where Barnett and Pho’s claims against LeBeouf will be deliberated in full.
