After making headlines for a mystifying arrest in New Orleans while taking in Mardi Gras last month, Shia LaBeouf is finally sharing his side of the story and suggesting he may have had some help behind the scenes from friends Kid Cudi and Thundercat.
During a recent sit-down with Andrew Callaghan, the 39-year-old actor said he wasn’t entirely sure how he was released, but claimed both musicians reached out to see what they could do.
“I don’t know what it is. They told me I’m on bond. … I gotta take my shotgun in there in the morning,” the “Honey Boy” star told Callaghan. “Can’t have a gun, can’t be on drugs, can’t be in no f—around, can’t leave the country.”
Pressed to clarify, the “Transformers” alum reiterated that he has “no idea what happened” to facilitate his release.
“I have no idea, bro,” he said when asked if someone bailed him out. “I know Thundercat tried to get it going. Stephen and me are very close. I know him from school. He tried to send his people out, and I love you very much. That’s a good man. Cudi did the same thing.”
LaBeouf’s inner circle has included both artists for years. His relationship with Kid Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, dates back to roughly 2011, when he directed two of the rapper’s most prominent visuals, “Maniac” and “Marijuana.” He has also said he knows Thundercat, born Stephen Bruner, from school, describing the artist as a longtime friend.
The arrest in question unfolded on Feb. 17 in New Orleans, where “The Peanut Butter Falcon” actor was charged with two simple counts of battery after allegedly becoming involved in a physical altercation at a bar and using homophobic slurs. He was initially released on his own recognizance, according to AP News. However, that status was revoked during a Feb. 26 hearing when Judge Simone Levine, citing the alleged slurs and his well-documented struggles with alcohol as potential threats to public safety, set his bond at $100,000.
LaBeouf posted bond that same day and later turned himself in on Feb. 28 on a new warrant carrying a $5,000 bond.
“Free me,” he wrote on X in a since-deleted post at the time of his initial arrest.
