LaBeouf Denies Abuse Claims, Is Said to Be in Treatment

Lawyers for Shia LaBeouf have responded to his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs' claims of abuse by denying every single one. In documents filed this week, lawyers say the 34-year-old actor "denies, generally and specifically, each and every allegation contained" in the lawsuit that 33-year-old Twigs filed against LaBeouf in December, per People. The response also "denies that [she] has sustained any injury or loss by reason of any act or omission on the part of [LaBeouf], and denies that [she] is entitled to any relief or damages whatsoever." Twigs, real name Tahliah Barnett, who dated LaBeouf for about a year in 2018 and 2019, claimed he choked and head-butted her, slammed her against a car, and threatened to crash a vehicle while she was a passenger, leaving her with PTSD. She also made a claim of sexual battery, saying LaBeouf knowingly gave her an STD.

Her attorney previously said Twigs and another of LaBeouf's ex-girlfriends who accused him of abuse, stylist Karolyn Pho, "tried to resolve this matter privately on the condition that Mr. LaBeouf agree to receive meaningful and consistent psychological treatment" but he refused. Twigs then sued "to prevent others from unknowingly suffering similar abuse by him." LaBeouf—who initially admitted to a history of alcoholism, aggression, and "hurting the people closest to me," but denied many of the lawsuit's claims—has now been receiving inpatient treatment for five weeks, though it's not clear for what, a source tells Variety. Meanwhile, his lawyers say the case should be thrown out and Twigs forced to pay LaBeouf's legal costs and additional compensation. The response claims LaBeouf's "alleged conduct was reasonably necessary for his self-defense and/or safety," per the BBC. (More Shia LaBeouf stories.)