Actor Shia LeBeouf Faces Lawsuit from FKA Twigs for Abusive Relationship
Los Angeles-based musician Tahliah Barnett, who is known professionally as FKA Twigs, has filed a lawsuit against celebrity actor Shia LeBeouf for a “relentless” abusive relationship. Charges include sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress. Barnett is seeking a trial by jury.
The actor, the star of “Transformers” and other movies, denied all allegations. FKA Twigs, in her court papers, said she is not looking for any financial settlement and accused LeBeouf of “relentless abuse” that included multiple, specific violent details allegedly occurring throughout their relationship that began in 2018.
FKA Twigs said she will be donating money from damages, if her lawsuit is successful, to non-profit domestic-abuse programs.
The specific charges include Sexual Battery; Battery; Assault; Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress and Gross Negligence.
LeBeouf is well known for his publicized numerous arrests and erratic public behavior. He has been arrested for assault and disorderly conduct more than once, but charges have always been dropped.
In court papers, FKA Twigs said, “Shia LaBeouf hurts women. He uses them. He abuses them, both physically and mentally. He is dangerous.”
The musician, in court papers, states the lawsuit “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.”
A detailed account by FKA Twigs is included in the lawsuit, charging LaBeouf was “engaging in grooming (her)… gradually gaining Tahliah’s trust and confidence with the intent of abusing her.”
As part of the “grooming” process, FKA Twigs alleges the actor isolated her from family and friends, verbally and then physically abusing her in a deep spiral into violence that included keeping live firearms in their bedroom and allegedly giving her a sexually transmitted disease.
As court papers allege, “Beginning in November 2018, LaBeouf insisted on keeping his front door unlocked and sleeping with a loaded rifle at their bedside. LaBeouf demanded Tahliah join him while he watched documentaries about murdered women before bed and refused to allow Tahliah to sleep with any clothing on. In these moments, Tahliah would often text friends in the middle of the night to devise a plan to escape LaBeouf's home.”
Evidence including text messages and eyewitness accounts are included in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit includes statements from an alleged “survivor of LaBeouf’s abuse,” his former girlfriend Karolyn Pho. Pho offered specific examples of violent abuse by former boyfriend LaBeouf in court papers, including his alleged threats to kill her and numerous other actions.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) reports that three women are murdered every day by their abusers. The United Nations is calling for emergency actions due to its statistics that six women are being murdered by men every hour in a “global epidemic of femicide.”
In 2019, 98,213 cases of sexual or domestic abuse were brought before US courts.
