Shia LaBeouf’s Assault Case Lands April 2023 Trial, Three Years After FKA Twigs Filed Lawsuit
Samantha Bergeson
FKA Twigs‘ lawsuit against ex Shia LaBeouf has officially secured a trial date.
Twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, filed a lawsuit against “Honey Boy” co-star LaBeouf in December 2020, alleging the “Transformers” actor inflicted emotional distress and assaulted her. Twigs also accused LaBeouf of sexual battery.
The case will now appear in front of a judge on April 17, 2023, as Rolling Stone confirmed.
“The gaslighting has gone on long enough here and it’s time to hold Shia LaBeouf accountable,” Twigs’ lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told the outlet. “My client wants a trial date.”
“Cellophane” singer Twigs previously told The New York Times after filing the lawsuit that she hopes to “raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency.”
Twigs alleged “Disturbia” star LaBeouf choked her, threatened to crash the car they were both in, and knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease. Stylist Karolyn Pho also cited claims of abuse against LaBeouf in the NYT piece. LaBeouf denied the claims.
“I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel,” LaBeouf told NYT at the time. “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.”
In a separate email to the outlet, LaBeouf stated that “many of these allegations are not true” but that Twigs and fellow accusers should have “the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done.” LaBeouf also noted at the time that he was “not cured of [his] PTSD and alcoholism.”
Twigs has stated that a portion of any financial winnings garnered from the lawsuit will be donated to charities supporting domestic violence survivors.
“What I went through with my abuser is, hands down, the worst thing [I’ve experienced] in the whole of my life,” Twigs told Elle in February 2021. “Recovering has been the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do.”
Twigs and LaBeouf dated for less than a year after meeting on set on the set of “Honey Boy” in 2018.
