FKA twigs files lawsuit against Shia LaBeouf for 'relentless abuse'

'I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years," Shia LaBeouf admitted.
December 11, 2020 3:21 p.m. EST

FKA twigs has filed a lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf, alleging that the actor subjected her to "relentless abuse," assault, sexual battery and emotional distress. According to The New York Times, her lawsuit details numerous occasions where LaBeouf allegedly put the musician in danger.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, details an alleged incident where FKA twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, was in a car with LaBeouf as he drove recklessly and threatened to intentionally crash the car until she "professed her love for him." They were on their way back to Los Angeles after a trip to the desert where The Peanut Butter Falcon actor allegedly woke her up in the middle of the night and choked her.

The suit also details an alleged incident where LaBeouf assaulted her outside of a gas station during a road trip. She alleges that he threw her against the car and screamed in her face when she tried to take her bags from him. She also claims that LaBeouf knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease.

“What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life,” FKA twigs told The Times. “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.”

In an email to the publication, LaBeouf wrote: “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 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.”

The lawsuit also mentioned Karolyn Pho, a stylist who previously dated LaBeouf and alleged that she had "tumultuous experiences" with the actor. The suit alleges that he drunkenly pinned her to a bed and head-butted her hard enough that she bled. She started to question the idea that he was abusing her following the incident. "So much goes into breaking down a man or woman to make them OK with a certain kind of treatment,” she told The Times.

FKA twigs and Pho both allege that LaBeouf was excessively jealous of other men to the point where he would try to dictate rules to his girlfriends. The suit alleges they were not allowed to make eye contact with other men and they had to kiss him and touch him a certain number of times per day.

LaBeouf claims that "many of the allegations" detailed in the suit "are not true." He said that he owed both women "the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I've done." The 34-year-old actor added that he was “a sober member of a 12-step program. I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, 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.”

LaBeouf and FKA twigs met after working together on Honey Boy and entered into a “tumultuous relationship,” according to the suit. It adds that the musician's life became "a living nightmare" after LaBeouf entered her life and engaged in "grooming — gradually gaining Tahliah’s trust and confidence with the intent of abusing her.”

FKA twigs said that a "significant portion" of the suit's monetary damages would be donated to domestic violence-related charities.

"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 suit. “The days in which LaBeouf can mistreat and harm women with impunity are over.”


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