The actor was accused of ‘relentless abuse’ by his former partner FKA Twigs in a 2020 lawsuit
Although most of us couldn’t escape from seeing Shia LaBeouf on our TV screens growing up, that isn’t the case these days.
The actor, 38, stepped back from the spotlight after his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs filed a lawsuit in 2020 accusing him of physical and emotional abuse during their relationship.
He controversially stepped out at the Cannes Film Festival in May for his first red carpet appearance in years, but apart from that, he’s laid considerably low since the claims went public.
LaBeouf has denied the allegations made by the UK musician and a trial was supposed to take place this year, however, it has now been pushed back to September next year by a US judge.
In the wake of the claims made by FKA Twigs – real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett – the Transformers star shared a statement addressing the allegations.
He told the New York 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.”
LaBeouf then revealed he was taking a hiatus from Hollywood and was seeking help at an inpatient facility in 2021.
Shia LaBeouf controversially walked the red carpet at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (Rocco Spain/Archive Spain/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
The same year, Twigs opened up about her relationship with LaBeouf in an interview with Elle.
“I love what I do, and [filming Honey Boy] was an incredible experience,” she told the outlet. “But then I ended up being preyed upon. At what point does Hollywood stop looking at money and start looking at people’s safety?”
LaBeouf has since said that he ‘denies all allegations’ posed in the sexual battery lawsuit, despite him publicly discussing the validity of the allegations.
During an appearance on the Real Ones with Jon Bernthal podcast in 2022, the Even Stevens actor alluded to the case without referring to his former partner by name.
“I hurt that woman,” LaBeouf 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-centred, dishonest, inconsiderate, fearful human being.”
LaBeouf then added: “Had she not intervened in my life and not created the avenue for me to experience ego death, I’d either have a really mediocre existence or I’d be dead in full.”
FKA Twigs filed a lawsuit in 2020 accusing LaBeouf of physical and emotional abuse during their relationship (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
He told Bernthal that he wanted to find his ‘purpose’ in life while also getting through the ‘long list of people that he needs to make amends to’.
LaBeouf also spoke of his desire to be a good father to his daughter Isabel, who he shares with his wife Mia Goth.
“I have now until she’s literate to create a relationship with her where she knows me more than this idea of who I am in the public,” he said.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter in October 2023, LaBeouf also addressed the backlash he had received and how he dealt with criticism.
“If you spend all your time reading about the way the internet views you, you forget about any love that exists in the world,” he said. “And if you have an obsessive myopic alcoholic mind, it’s really easy to write these narratives where you just give up.
The actor added: “I got a fault-finding mind, and my outlook already swings negative, so if my life is swinging a little bit negatively, it’s really hard to stay afloat.”
The actor, pictured last month, will face off with FKA Twigs in court next year (MEGA/GC Images)
Much to the surprise of fans, it is reported that LaBeouf had decided to become a deacon in January this year after starring in the Padre Pio biopic as the saint.
Friars in the US who had helped the former Disney star prepare to take on the role of Pio announced that the actor had converted to Catholicism.
His confirmation sponsor and Capuchin friar, Alexander Rodriguez, then revealed that LaBeouf had set his sights on becoming a deacon ‘sometime in the future’.
Following his lead role in Padre Pio, LaBeouf then joined the cast of Francis Ford Coppola’s sci-fi drama Megalopolis, which debuted in September this year.
He’s also recently finished shooting an upcoming British boxing film which he will star in, titled Salvable, alongside Toby Kebbell and Michael Sacha.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 10am-10pm, Monday to Friday.
