Shia LaBeouf admits he hurt FKA Twigs’ after abuse allegations – branding her ‘a saint’

Shia LaBeouf has finally addressed allegations of abuse from former girlfriend FKA Twigs, who filed a lawsuit against him in 2020.

With the singer accusing the Transformers star, 36, of sexual battery, assault, and emotional distress, he has now admitted to ‘hurting’ her, sharing that he ‘f***** up bad’.

Branding Twigs, 34, a ‘saint’, the actor recalled that she ‘saved my life’ – sparking him to wake up and take responsibility for his actions. 

Addressing the lawsuit, Shia appeared on actor Jon Bernthal’s Real Ones podcast on Friday, speaking about the claims made by his ex, without naming her directly or referring to Twigs’ specific allegations. 

The couple dated for just under a year in 2018, after meeting on the set of American drama Honey Boy’, with Twigs later accusing him of ‘relentless abuse’ and ‘knowingly passing on a sexually transmitted disease’. 

He admitted in the new interview: ‘I hurt that woman. And in the process of doing that, I hurt many other people, and many other people before that woman. 

‘I was a pleasure-seeking, selfish, self-centered, dishonest, inconsiderate, fearful human being … When I think about what my life has become, and what it is now, like what my purpose is now … I need to be useful. 

‘And when I look at this #MeToo environment, there’s not a whole lot of dudes that are taking accountability,’ explained Shia. 

He went on to detail the ‘long list’ of people that he hurt and needs to make amends with, explaining that he will ‘owe’ for the rest of his life.

And detailing his gratitude towards Twigs, real moniker Tahliah Debrett Barnett, the actor branded her ‘a saint’.

‘Had she not intervened in my life and not created the avenue for me to experience ego death, I’d either have a really mediocre existence or I’d be dead in full,’ said Shia. 

Twigs has previously said that her relationship with the actor was ‘the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life’, with a trial for their lawsuit slated for April 2023.

Among the allegations, she is accusing him of violently attacking and strangling her, knowingly infecting her with an STD, and physical and verbal violence.

But Shia, who has been diagnosed with PTSD and alcoholism, insists that he is in a better place now, branding himself a ‘public sinner’.

He explained; ‘I’m in the tribe of the f***-ups. I’m a very public sinner, a very fallible person in the public sphere. What I think now my purpose is, is to not do… the other examples that we’ve had of how to navigate something like this — which is to go after the woman, or try to win a court case, or get back into a f****** movie or like get back on at all.

‘My purpose, and I mean this with every fibre of my being, is to be instructive with my life, so that I can be an advertisement, like a billboard, for a principled way of living.’

The podcast interview was released a day after Shia publicly denied claims made by director Olivia Wilde that he was fired from her movie Don’t Worry Darling due to his ‘combative energy.

The actor instead insisted that he quit the project.

Backing up his claims, a video of Wilde was leaked online Friday that clearly shows the director begging LaBeouf to stay with the project, and she hints at tensions with his would-be co-star Florence Pugh by saying him leaving would be a ‘wake-up call to Miss Flo.’  

Earlier this week, Wilde, 38, gave an interview to Variety where she said LaBeouf’s process was ‘not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions’ after the role was ultimately recast with her now-boyfriend Harry Styles.

Styles, 28, plays the character Jack alongside main star Florence Pugh, who is said to have had some ‘tension’ with LaBeouf.  

However, LaBeouf, 36, has now supplied alleged evidence that refutes Wilde’s claims, including an email he sent to the director and a video that she sent to him, that was later leaked online, proving he walked away from the film. 

LaBeouf claims he ‘quit the film due to lack of rehearsal time’ on August 17th in 2020, and forwarded Variety two emails that he claims he recently sent to Wilde. 

In his messages to Wilde, LaBeouf states: ‘You and I both know the reasons for my exit. I quit your film because your actors and I couldn’t find time to rehearse.’ 

In the email, he references his troubled relationship with FKA Twigs and also spoke of his daughter Isabel who he shares with partner Mia Goth.  

Some studio sources have claimed to the publication that LaBeouf had been fired, while another said it was down to a ‘collective recognition that LaBeouf’s style of acting wasn’t a good fit for Wilde’s approach as a director.’ 

Variety reports that LaBeouf sent the publication screenshots of his conversations with Wilde, which claim they met in person to discuss his exit from the project. 

In the email to Wilde, LaBeouf acknowledges his relationship with Twigs, where he writes: ‘My failings with Twigs are fundamental and real, but they are not the narrative that has been presented.’ 

Twigs – real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett – accused LaBeouf in a lawsuit of knowingly giving her a sexually transmitted disease and also accused him of ‘relentless abuse,’ including sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. He has denied the claims.