Shia LaBeouf Denies Abuse Allegations in Response to FKA Twigs Lawsuit

Shia LaBeouf has denied the allegations of “relentless” physical and mental abuse levied by his former girlfriend FKA Twigs after she filed a lawsuit against him in December 2020.

Although the actor took an apologetic tone in a statement following Twigs’ lawsuit filing and a New York Times article about the accusations, LaBeouf now denies “each and every allegation contained” in the original lawsuit, according to the “defendant’s answer to complaint” filed February 5th.

In the response, LaBeouf’s lawyer wrote that the actor “denies that Plaintiff [FKA Twigs, real name Tahliah Barnett] has sustained any injury or loss by reason of any act or omission on the part of Defendant, and denies that Plaintiff is entitled to any relief or damages whatsoever.”

In regard to Barnett’s accusations of sexual battery, “none of the acts alleged were based on sex and/or the conduct was not sexual,” the response reads. As for the accusations of physical abuse, “the alleged conduct was reasonably necessary for his self-defense and/or safety.”

“Upon being confronted with Ms. Barnett’s lawsuit, Mr. LaBeouf admitted his reprehensible conduct and then checked himself into some type of inpatient treatment,” Twigs’ attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement to IndieLand Thursday. “To the extent his five-week treatment has been focused on denials and gaslighting, he may want to revisit the type of help he is receiving. Mr. LaBeouf’s legal tact and recovery plan, while not surprising, are poorly misguided self-help strategies.”

LaBeouf’s lawyer Shawn Holley responded in a statement to IndieLand: “A lawyer issuing general denials to all the allegations in a lawsuit is standard procedure in civil practice and signals nothing about Shia’s past statements or his acceptance of responsibility for things he has done wrong. Nothing has changed.”

“I’d like to be able to raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency,” Barnett told the New York Times in December: “What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life. 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.”

LaBeouf, who is reportedly now receiving care at an inpatient treatment facility, initially wrote in an email to the New York Times about the lawsuit: “I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel. 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.”