FKA Twigs is suing Shia LaBeouf for a “relentless” abusive relationship, as reported by The New York Times and Variety. The singer, born Tahliah Debrett Barnett, is suing the actor for assault, sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress. The two first met after starring together in Honey Boy, the 2019 film that’s based on LaBeouf’s childhood which he wrote the screenplay for.
In the suit, the singer/performer alleges that LaBeouf mentally and physically abused her, including a harrowing moment in 2019 when she was trapped in a car with him behind the wheel as he was driving recklessly back to Los Angeles after from a trip to the desert, according to The New York Times. She claimed he unbuckled his seatbelt and threatened to crash the car unless she said she loved him. After begging to be let out, LaBeouf allegedly followed her out of the car as she took her bags from his car trunk, throwing her against the car, screaming at her, and forced her to get back in the car.
Not only was FKA Twigs assaulted on the way back from the trip, but during the trip, she alleges that LaBeouf terrorized her throughout their excursion, including a time when he woke her up during the night and choked her. FKA Twigs broke up with LeBeouf in 2019 after a relationship that lasted a year.
“Shia LaBeouf hurts women. He uses them. He abuses them, both physically and mentally,” states the lawsuit. “He is dangerous.”
LaBeouf’s terrorizing allegedly also includes, according to the suit, pulling a gun on FKA Twigs, saying he killed stray dogs to practice thinking like a killer.
“For too long, LaBeouf has sought to excuse his reprehensible actions as the eccentricities of a free-thinking ‘artist,” states the suit, according to Variety. “Even though his history of violent behavior was well documented, many in the media have treated LaBeouf as a harmless figure of fun, which has helped enable him to perpetuate his cycle of abuse of women over the years. There is nothing funny about the exploitation of and battering of women.”
The singer isn’t suing for monetary support; instead, she hopes that by filing the lawsuit, she can show how even high-profile women can become victims of abusers.
“I’d like to be able to raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency,” she said to the New York Times.
This reasoning is also written in the lawsuit, with the suit stating, “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. The days in which LaBeouf can mistreat and harm women with impunity are over.”
LaBeouf gave an emailed statement to the New York Times, seemingly admitting to acknowledging some level of bad behavior, if not the abuse itself.
“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,” he wrote. “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 hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”
