SHIA’S IN ‘REEL’ TROUBLE NOW
Ex ‘abuse’ suit
FKA twigs is suing exboyfriend Shia LaBeouf for their allegedly abusive relationship.
Twigs, the musician and actress whose real name is Tahliah Barnett, 32, has accused LaBeouf, 34, of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress, The New York Times reported. One incident described in the lawsuit occurred just after Valentine’s Day 2019.
The suit claims LaBeouf was driving recklessly, threatening to crash if Barnett, a passenger, didn’t profess her love for him.
She claims she begged to be let out of the car, and LaBeouf pulled over at a gas station, followed her out of the auto and assaulted her, throwing her against the vehicle, according to the lawsuit.
The two were driving home from a trip to the desert during which the “Honey Boy” star allegedly raged, woke Barnett 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,” she told the Times.
Barnett and LaBeouf met in 2018, when she joined the cast of “Honey Boy,” but didn’t start dating until after filming wrapped.
The beginning of their relationship (left, in 2018) was a typical “honeymoon phase” filled with “over-the-top displays of affection” that helped earn her trust, she said.
In the lawsuit, Barnett claims the “Transformers” star knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease. She also claims he would grab her so hard that she would bruise.
She says she didn’t go to police at first out of fear of harming her career and not being taken seriously.
LaBeouf said in an e-mail to the 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.”
Karolyn Pho, a stylist and another of LaBeouf ’s ex-girlfriends, also claims he abused her. In the lawsuit, she details one night when LaBeouf allegedly drunkenly pinned her to a bed and head-butted her, causing her to bleed.
“So much goes into breaking down a man or woman to make them OK with a certain kind of treatment,” Pho told the Times.
In a separate e-mail to the Times, LaBeouf stated that “many of these allegations are not true” but owed the women “the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done.”
LaBeouf said he’s now “a sober member of a 12-step program” and in therapy.
“I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism,” he wrote, “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.”
Both Barnett and Pho claim in the lawsuit that LaBeouf didn’t like it if they looked at or talked to male waiters, so Barnett learned to keep her eyes down when conversing with men.
Barnett says she is planning to donate a significant portion of any winnings she receives to domestic-violence charities.