Singer FKA twigs breaks her silence after suing ex Shia LaBeouf for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress: ‘i never thought something like this would happen to me’
- FKA twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Supreme Court
- The 32-year-old British singer is accusing ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress
- The lawsuit alleges LaBeouf knowingly gave the singer an STD and abused her, including once in public at a Los Angeles gas station in February 2019
- She tweeted on Friday: ‘it was hard for me to process too, during and after i never thought something like this would happen to me’
- The pair dated for less than a year before ending things in May 2019
- She claims he forced her to sleep naked and that he kept a loaded gun by the bed
- The singer also says in the lawsuit that she later learned he didn’t like it if she spoke or even looked at male waiters
- Twigs said she started seeing a therapist who started helping her plan her exit
- LaBeouf said many of the allegations ‘are not true’ but he isn’t in a position to ‘defend any of my actions’
- He largely blamed his alcoholism and PTSD for his actions
FKA twigs broke her silence Friday after suing her ex Shia LaBeouf for sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress.
The 32-year-old, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, claims in her suit that he knowingly gave her an STD and relentlessly abused her during their relationship.
In a new Twitter thread she alleged: ‘it may be surprising to you to learn that i was in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship. it was hard for me to process too, during and after i never thought something like this would happen to me.’
Saying her piece: FKA twigs broke her silence Friday after suing her ex Shia LaBeouf for sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress
Barnett continued: ‘which is why i have decided it’s important for me to talk about it and try to help people understand that when you are under the coercive control of an abuser or in an intimate partner violent relationship leaving doesn’t feel like a safe or achievable option.’
The British singer added: ‘i hope that by sharing my experience i can truly help others feel like they are not alone and shed some light on how those who are worried somebody they care about may be in an abusive relationship can help because i understand it can be confusing and hard to know what to do.’
Barnett noted: ‘the statistics on domestically abusive and intimate partner violence relationships are shocking and during covid i have been really anxious because i know many victims will have been literally trapped with their abusers with no relief or way to get out.’
The Cheltenham-born musical artist wrote: ‘my second worst nightmare is being forced to share with the world that i am a survivor of domestic violence my first worst nightmare is not telling anyone and knowing that i could have helped even just one person by sharing my story.’
‘Sharing my story’: In a new Twitter thread she alleged: ‘it may be surprising to you to learn that i was in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship’
She concluded: ‘here are some amazing charities and helplines that i recommend donating to and calling if you or somebody you know needs support…’
Her tweet plugged the National Domestic Violence Hotline as well as the Los Angeles-based organization FreeFrom and a group called Sistah Space that offers ‘Specialist support for African & Caribbean heritage women affected by DV.’
Barnett filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing LaBeouf of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress, the New York Times reports.
The lawsuit alleges LaBeouf knowingly gave the singer, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, an STD and abused her – both emotionally and physically – during their relationship.
FKA twigs is claiming her ex-boyfriend knowingly gave her an STD and relentlessly abused her during their relationship. The pair are pictured in Paris in September 2018 when they were first romantically linked
The pair dated for less than a year before ending things in May 2019 with sources saying at the time the separation was down to her work schedule.
In one incident detailed in the lawsuit, LaBeouf was allegedly speeding in Los Angeles in February 2019 when they were returning from a trip to the desert.
He removed his seat belt and threatened to crash the car unless she told him she loved him, the lawsuit says.
LaBeouf stopped at a gas station after twigs begged him to stop and let her out. When she removed her bags from the trunk, LaBeouf allegedly threw her against the car, screamed in her face and then forced her to get back in the vehicle.
Throwback: FKA twigs is pictured at the 2019 Sundance premiere of Honey Boy, which was written by LaBeouf who also starred in it
Just prior to the gas station incident, twigs alleges she woke in the middle of the night to find the Transformers actor choking her.
Twigs said she first met LaBeouf in 2018 when she starred in the Honey Boy movie he wrote, and the pair started dating after they finished filming.
She said he eventually convinced her to stay in Los Angeles with him instead of moving back to London where she is from.
The lawsuit says LaBeouf initially showed ‘over-the-top displays of affection’ towards her but then he started insisting on rules, including how many times she had to show affection to him in a day.
She claims he forced her to sleep naked and that he kept a loaded gun by the bed. In the lawsuit, twigs claims she feared going to the bathroom at night in case he thought she was an intruder and fired the gun.
The singer also says in the lawsuit that she later learned he didn’t like it if she spoke or even looked at male waiters. Twigs started keeping her eyes down when men spoke to her, the lawsuit says.
Premiere: LaBeouf is pictured on the red carpet for Honey Boy at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019
The lawsuit details how LaBeouf started isolating her so much that she started doubting her creative team and her manager couldn’t reach her.
It came around the time she was finishing her Magdalene record, which resulted in the album’s release having to be delayed several times and her tour rescheduled.
Twigs said she eventually started seeing a therapist who started helping her plan her exit.
She was packing to leave in spring 2019 when LaBeouf came to her house and allegedly ‘violently grabbed’ her in front of her housekeeper. He locked her in a room and screamed at her, the lawsuit says.
In an interview with the NYT, another one of LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriends, Karolyn Pho, described similar allegations related to her relationship with the actor.
She claims he pinned her to the bed while drunk and headbutted her until she bled.
In a statement to the NYT, LaBeouf said many of the allegations ‘are not true’ but he isn’t in a position to ‘defend any of my actions’.
He blamed his alcoholism and PTSD.
‘I owe these women the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those thing I have done. As someone in recovery, I have to face almost daily reminders of things I did say and do when I was drinking,’ he said.
‘It has always been easy for me to accept responsibility when my behavior reflects poorly on myself, but it’s much harder to accept the knowledge that I may have caused great pain to others. I can’t rewrite history. I can only accept it and work to be better in the future. I write this as a sober member of a twelve-step program and in therapy for my many failings.
‘I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to doing what I need to do to recover, and I will forever be sorry to the people that I may have harmed along the way.’
Twigs, pictured above with singer Dua Lipa, said she filed the lawsuit and was speaking out about it to show how even someone with a large network like herself could be caught up in an abusive cycle
Shia LeBeouf responds to allegations:
‘I owe these women the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those thing I have done. As someone in recovery, I have to face almost daily reminders of things I did say and do when I was drinking.
‘It has always been easy for me to accept responsibility when my behavior reflects poorly on myself, but it’s much harder to accept the knowledge that I may have caused great pain to others. I can’t rewrite history. I can only accept it and work to be better in the future. I write this as a sober member of a twelve-step program and in therapy for my many failings.
‘I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to doing what I need to do to recover, and I will forever be sorry to the people that I may have harmed along the way.’
Twigs said she never reported LeBeouf to police because she initially feared it would harm her career and then because she thought authorities wouldn’t take it seriously.
She said that given the gas station incident happened in daylight, she feared no one would take her allegations seriously.
‘I just thought to myself, no one is ever going to believe me,’ she told the NYT.
‘I’m unconventional. And I’m a person of color who is a female.’
Twigs said she filed the lawsuit and was speaking out about it to show how even someone with a large network like herself could be caught up in an abusive cycle.
‘The whole time I was with him, I could have bought myself a business-flight plane ticket back to my four-story townhouse in Hackney,’ she said.
‘He brought me so low, below myself, that the idea of leaving him and having to work myself back up just seemed impossible.
‘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.’
The singer said she plans to donate a significant portion of any damages she receives from litigation to domestic-violence charities.
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