FKA twigs sues Shia LaBeouf for ‘relentless abuse,’ and sexual battery
FKA twigs filed a lawsuit in which she alleged Shia LaBeouf gave her an STD and abused her during their almost year-long relationship
FKA twigs has come forward with allegations that actor Shia LaBeouf abused her mentally, physically and emotionally while they were in a relationship.
Known for her eclectic musical style, FKA twigs filed suit against the actor on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing LaBeouf of “relentless abuse,” the New York Times reported. The singer, born Tahliah Debrett Barnett, alleged that the actor committed sexual battery, inflicted emotional distress, and gave her an STD.
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In the lawsuit, twigs also accused the Transformer star, 34, of driving recklessly while the two were in a car on Valentine’s Day 2019. He allegedly demanded that twigs profess her love and threatened to crash the car if she refused.
The filing also claims that she woke up during the trip and LeBeouf was choking her. She asked to be let out of the car and he pulled over at a gas station. Once she exited the vehicle, he followed her and threw her up against the car while screaming in her face.
FKA twigs said that the incident at the gas station was one of many acts of violence during her relationship with the actor that lasted almost a year. She says she wanted to come forward now to be a visible example of domestic abuse and a portion of any settlement will be donated to domestic-violence charities.
“I’d like to be able to raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency,” FKA twigs, 32, told the New York Times.
The singer alleges she’d have to use makeup to hide her injuries and that her self-esteem was ruined by LaBeouf.
“He brought me so low, below myself, that the idea of leaving him and having to work myself back up just seemed impossible,” she said.
She also was not sure she would even be believed as a “woman of color,” but felt it necessary to come forward and to let others know that celebrity does not shield anyone from abuse.
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“What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life,” she said. “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.”
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Karolyn Pho, another former girlfriend of LaBeouf’s, has gone on the record to allege that he was abusive to her as well. She accused him of headbutting her while he was drunk to the point she was bleeding.
“So much goes into breaking down a man or woman to make them OK with a certain kind of treatment,” she told the NYT.
LaBeouf has not yet responded to the lawsuit but addressed the issues of his behavior raised by FKA twigs and Pho in an email to the outlet.
“I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel,” he said in the email to the 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. There is nothing else I can really say.”
He also added that he was “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.”
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