US actor Shia LaBeouf settles sexual battery lawsuit by ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs
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Shia LaBeouf (above) and FKA Twigs were in a relationship for almost a year after filming Honey Boy (2019).
PHOTO: AFP
Melena Ryzik
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LOS ANGELES - American actor Shia LaBeouf settled a lawsuit with his former girlfriend, British singer FKA Twigs, that accused him of sexual battery and assault, their lawyers announced in a joint statement on July 22.
In the lawsuit, which FKA Twigs filed in Los Angeles in December 2020, the 37-year-old accused LaBeouf of “relentless abuse” in a relationship that lasted just short of a year. She said in the lawsuit that LaBeouf, 39, knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease, choked her and threatened her as she became isolated from friends and family.
FKA Twigs, whose birth name is Tahliah Barnett, asked the court to dismiss the case on July 21.
In a joint statement, Mr Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for FKA Twigs, and Ms Shawn Holley, a lawyer for LaBeouf, said that the deal was made in the spirit of “forging a constructive path forward” and that their clients wished “each other personal happiness, professional success and peace in the future”.
The details of the settlement would remain confidential, the lawyers said.
When FKA Twigs filed the lawsuit and made her claims public, the musician said in an interview with The New York Times (NYT) that she was doing so to show how even a celebrated artiste with a network of support could be caught in a cycle of abuse.
FKA Twigs met LaBeouf in 2018 when she was cast in Honey Boy (2019), a mostly autobiographical movie he wrote, and started dating after filming.
“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 then.
In an email to NYT when the suit was filed, LaBeouf said “many of these allegations are not true”.
He added: “I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalisations. 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.”
FKA Twigs (above) met LaBeouf in 2018 when she was cast in Honey Boy (2019), a mostly autobiographical movie he wrote, and started dating after filming.
PHOTO: AFP
In the aftermath of the suit, LaBeouf parted ways with his agency, CAA, as he sought inpatient treatment.
The actor is known for his work in the film Transformers (2007) and its two sequels Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009) and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011). In 2024, he appeared in American film-maker Francis Ford Coppola’s critically reviled Megalopolis.
FKA Twigs released her third studio album, Eusexua, to widespread acclaim in January. Her United States tour earlier in 2025 was cancelled because of what she called visa issues. NYTIMES
Katie Benner contributed reporting
