FKA twigs says recovering from alleged Shia LaBeouf abuse is ‘hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do’
Musician says relationship with the actor was ‘hands down, the worst thing [I’ve experienced] in the whole of my life’
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FKA twigs has spoken at length about her alleged experiences during her relationship with actor Shia LaBeouf.
The musician and actor born Tahliah Barnett filed a lawsuit against the Honey Boy star in December last year, accusing him of “relentless abuse” including sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress.
Speaking to Elle magazine in a new interview, twigs now says that what she went through was “hands down, the worst thing [I’ve experienced] in the whole of my life”.
She added: “Recovering has been the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do.”
In the same interview, twigs claimed that LaBeouf would become jealous over her behaviour with friends and strangers.
“One time, he heard me laughing on FaceTime with my friend. He came in and had a massive argument with me because he said he doesn’t make me laugh like that,” she recalled.
“So then I had to hide laughing with my friends. It’s [about] isolation, so I don’t talk to my friends. He hated that I had an experience to myself [with] something that didn’t involve him, a memory that gave me joy.”
Read more: FKA twigs claims ex-partner Shia LaBeouf banned her from looking at other men
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Twigs, who is mixed-race, also called out LaBeouf’s apparent hypocrisy in his treatment of her given his support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I’m half Black, and yet he’s being hailed as an ally of the Black community during Black Lives Matter [protests]?” she said. “I’ve woken up to him strangling me multiple times. I’ve not been able to breathe at his hands.”
Twigs also alleged that LaBeouf told her the only reason she was cast in Honey Boy was because of her race.
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The Independent has contacted LaBeouf’s representative for comment.
LaBeouf, who is reportedly receiving care at an inpatient treatment facility, initially told the New York Times in response to the lawsuit: “I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behaviour made them feel.
“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.”
However, last week, his lawyers said the 34-year-old denies “each and every allegation” made by twigs in the original lawsuit, in the “defendant’s answer to complaint” filed on 5 February, according to Rolling Stone.
In the response, LaBeouf’s lawyer wrote that the actor “denies that Plaintiff [FKA Twigs, real name Tahliah Barnett] has sustained any injury or loss by reason of any act or omission on the part of Defendant, and denies that Plaintiff is entitled to any relief or damages whatsoever.”