After his departure from the talent agency CAA, actor Shia LaBeouf has denied “each and every” allegation of abuse made against him by his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs, real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett.
A court filing obtained by E! News claims that the actor’s former girlfriend “has not suffered any injury or damage as a result of [his] actions” and is not entitled to any relief or damages. The filing was in response to a lawsuit issued by Barnett.
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The court document, filed on 5 February and made available to Reuters on Thursday, also states that the singer’s allegation of sexual battery was invalid “because none of the acts alleged were based on sex.”
The civil lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles superior court in December under her real name Tahliah Barnett, sought unspecified damages for alleged sexual battery, assault and emotional distress. Barnett also accused LaBeouf of emotional abuse during their year-long relationship in 2019.
The lawsuit states that in February 2019 Barnett was a passenger in a vehicle that LaBeouf was driving recklessly, and that he removed his seatbelt and threatened to crash unless she said she loved him. The pair had taken a trip to the desert outside Los Angeles, during which, Barnett alleged, LaBeouf once woke her up in the middle of the night by choking her.
This past December, Barnett filed a lawsuit against the actor, alleging she was the victim of sexual battery, assault, and emotional distress. She also claimed that the actor knowingly gave her an STD. Stylist Karolyn Pho, another former girlfriend of LaBeouf’s, was also named in the lawsuit.
“We tried to resolve this matter privately on the condition that Mr. LaBeouf agree to receive meaningful and consistent psychological treatment,” Barnett’s lawyer Bryan Freedman told THR at the time. “Since he was unwilling to agree to get appropriate help, Ms. Barnett filed this suit to prevent others from unknowingly suffering similar abuse by him.”
Barnett said in a Twitter post at the time that she felt it necessary to talk about her experience with LaBeouf so that more women can understand that they can take action when they are under “coercive control.”
“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,” she tweeted. “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.”
LaBeouf told The New York Times at the time of the lawsuit that he has “been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years.”
“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,” the actor said.
This past week, Shia LaBeouf and the talent agency CAA departed ways after he checked himself in for inpatient treatment this past December.
Related: Talent Agency CAA No Longer Representing Actor Shia LaBeouf Amid Accusations Of Sexual Abuse