FKA twigs ‘left with PTSD’ after Shia LeBeouf allegedly abused her and ‘banned her from looking at other men’
FKA twigs (L) and Shia LaBeouf. (Getty)
FKA twigs claimed that Shia LeBeouf banned her from looking at other men during their relationship as she detailed the impact his alleged abuse had on her.
In December 2020, 33-year-old FKA twigs, real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett, filed a lawsuit against her former partner LaBeouf for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress.
Among many disturbing allegations, she said that he would grab her to the point of bruising, slept with a loaded gun, and that once while driving he removed his seatbelt and threatened to crash the car if she did not profess her love for him.
In Monday’s (25 January) episode of Louis Theroux’s podcast Grounded, the singer gave further details on the alleged abuse.
She said: “Being nice to a waiter, or being polite to somebody [could be] seen as me flirting or wanting to engage in some sort of relationship with somebody else, when I’m literally just ordering pasta or being polite.”
Twigs continued: “I was told I knew what he was like, and if I loved him I wouldn’t look men in the eye, and that was my reality for a good four months towards the end of the relationship.”
She claimed that if she did have a “pleasant” interaction, LaBeouf would berate her and keep her awake for days on end.
Twigs also said she was required to meet a “quota” of kisses or other displays of affection, and if she failed would be made to feel like “the worst person ever”.
She said: “I had a quota that I had to meet, which changed… it was touches, or looks, or kisses, that his previous partner apparently met this number very well, so I was ‘inadequate’ compared to a previous partner of his, and I had to get the touches and kisses correct.”
I was left with PTSD.
The singer detailed the impact the alleged abuse had on her mental health.
“For a long time anything that woke me up in the night, even if it was just my dog, or a noise outside, or just needing to go to the bathroom, it could trigger a really intense panic attack,” she said.
“I was left with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] from that, which again is just something that I don’t think we really talk about as a society just in terms of the healing when leaving, and how much work that has to be done to recover, to get back to the person that you were before.”
FKA twigs is suing Shia LeBeouf.
FKA twigs and Shia LeBeouf were together for just less than a year, and broke up in May 2019.
In the lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, FKA twigs alleged that LaBoeuf has subjected her to “relentless” physical and emotional abuse.
On the same trip as he allegedly threatened to crash their car, twigs says the actor also grabbed her bags, pushed her against the car and screamed in her face before forcing her back inside. He then, she said, woke her up in the middle of the night by choking her.
On going public with her story in the New York Times, twigs said that she wanted to “raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency”.
Last year, LaBeouf responded to the allegations in an email to the New York Times, insisting that “many are not true”.
However, he also said: “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.”
PinkNews contacted representatives for Shia LeBeouf for further comment.
