Last week, FKA twigs sued her ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf. In what made for truly shocking reading - first reported by The New York Times - we learnt that the singer was filing the lawsuit against the Hollywood actor for sexual battery, assault, infliction of emotional distress and knowingly passing on a sexually transmitted disease.
Some of the allegations include claims that LaBeouf once threatened to crash a car while driving home unless FKA twigs - real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett - professed her ‘eternal love’ for him, that he would keep track of the number of kisses Barnett gave him daily and that he would force Barnett to sleep naked and watch documentaries about murdered women before going to bed. Barnett told the Times the relationship was ‘the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life’.
LaBeouf told the Times that ‘many of these allegations are not true’ but that he owed Barnett and stylist Karolyn Pho, another former partner featured in the lawsuit, ‘the opportunity to air their statements publicly and [for me to] accept accountability for those things I have done’. ‘I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behaviour made them feel,’ he told the paper. ‘I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalisations. 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.’ He added that he was ‘a sober member of a 12-step program’ and ‘committed to doing what I need to do to recover’.
The actor-turned-performance-artist has often hit the headlines - but people have usually been dismissive because they have accepted him as an artist. In 2014, he wore a paper bag over his head to a premiere, which stated ‘I am not famous anymore’. When he went through a phase of doing performance art, in one stunt, where he was holed up in an elevator, he punched a fan in the face (who asked him to). (Chillingly, the lawsuit alleges that he got so into character for The Tax Collector, he'd drive around LA, shooting stray dogs to get into the ‘mindset’ of a killer.)
There have also been reports of previous abuse claims. In 2015, bystanders reportedly broke up a fight between LaBeouf and actress Mia Goth.
When the news broke on Friday evening, many took to social media to show their support for FKA twigs, who has said she intends to donate any monetary damages to domestic violence charities. But, as people condemned LaBeouf, many added that they weren’t surprised - because he's always been a bit odd. ‘Not surprised to hear about Shia LaBeouf being abusive,' one tweet read, 'he's been weird for YEARS!!!'
But this isn’t helping anybody. It implies victim blaming, that FKA twigs should have somehow known better - when, if guilty of the allegations, the only person in the wrong is LaBeouf. In the beginning of relationships, abusers can show entirely different sides of their personalities in order to gain trust. In her lawsuit, the singer says the early days of their relationship were marked by ‘over-the-top displays of affection’ and that she wants to raise awareness of ‘the tactics that abusers use to control you’.
‘What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life’ Barnett said. ‘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.’ Whatever happens next between the pair, we need to be careful about how we respond to any allegations of abuse. The way we react matters.
If you have been affected by the issues in this story, you can contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, 24-hours a day, for free and in confidence on 0808 2000 247.
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