Celebrity News December 11, 2020
FKA twigs Accuses Ex-BF Shia LaBeouf of Abuse and Sexual Battery, He Responds
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Actress and singer FKA twigs, 32, is making some serious accusations against her ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf, 34, claiming abuse, sexual battery, and more.
The New York Times reports twigs, real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles to warn others that “Shia LaBeouf hurts women.”
LaBeouf responded to the paper, stating in an email that “many of these allegations are not true,” but acknowledging that he owes the women “the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done.”
The actor explained he is now in a 12-step program and undergoing 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.”
According to The Times, the lawsuit describes a tumultuous and scary trip FKA and Shia took to the desert in February 2019. She claimed he was raging throughout the trip, and tried to choke her during the night. On the drive back to L.A., she says he was driving recklessly, even removing his seatbelt and threatening to crash the car if she didn’t tell him she loved him.
She reportedly begged him to stop, and when he pulled over at a gas station he allegedly yelled at her and threw her against the vehicle before forcing her back into the car.
The singer also claims Shia knowingly gave her an STD, and accuses him of sexual battery, assault, and emotional distress.
Another ex-girlfriend named Karolyn Pho was also referenced in the lawsuit regarding a time she claims Shia pinned her down on a bed and head-butted her until she was bleeding.
Reflecting on how things allegedly got that bad, Pho told The Times, “So much goes into breaking down a man or woman to make them okay with a certain kind of treatment.”
Both women claimed LaBeouf did not like them to look at male waiters, and FKA claimed Shia had a quota for how many times he wanted to be kissed and touched each day. She added that he convinced her to stay in L.A. rather than move back to London, where her support system is. Twigs saw it as a means of isolating her.
Shia told The Times in another email, “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.”
Twigs worked with a therapist to leave Shia in spring 2019, calling it a “difficult and dangerous” process. She stated that he showed up unannounced while she was packing one day, locked her in a room, and shouted at her.
She told The Times she planned to donate a significant portion of the money from the lawsuit to domestic violence charities. “It was actually very expensive, and a massive undertaking of time and resources, to get out,” she explained.
Twigs added, “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.”
FKA and Shia met on the set of his movie “Honey Boy,” a film based on his own childhood. They reportedly started dating after the film wrapped, and split after less than a year together.