FKA twigs ‘was lucky to make it out alive’ from ‘abusive’ relationship with Shia LaBeouf
FKA twigs (L) and Shia LaBeouf. (Getty)
FKA twigs has said she was “lucky to make it out alive” from her “abusive” relationship with Shia LaBeouf.
The British singer-songwriter, real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett, claimed that her almost year-long relationship with the Transformers actor was marred by “relentless abuse” in a lawsuit filed in December.
In an interview with Elle magazine, twigs opened up about how her relationship with LaBeouf blossomed after she was cast in his semi-autobiographical film Honey Boy.
However, the relationship quickly took a nosedive into terrifying abusive tactics, she claimed, including love bombing, gaslighting, social isolation and sleep deprivation.
“It’s a miracle I came out alive,” FKA twigs said.
“If you put a frog in a boiling pot of water, that frog is going to jump out straightaway.
“Whereas if you put a frog in cool water and heat it up slowly, that frog is going to boil to death. The was my experience with LaBeouf.”
The “Cellophane” singer recounted in detail one particularly traumatic trip she and LaBeouf took to a hotel spa on Valentine’s Day weekend in 2019. She first went public with details of the incident in her December 2020 civil lawsuit.
FKA twigs said LaBeouf woke her in the middle of the night and began to choke her, telling her: “If you don’t stop, you are going to lose me.”
The next morning, he allegedly threw her to the ground outside their hotel, and once in the car, he began driving dangerously and recklessly, swerving into traffic.
FKA twigs was terrified for the entire journey that they were going to crash, and even considered throwing herself out of the car.
When the actor stopped for fuel, twigs said she tried to get her bags and flee – but LaBeouf slammed her against the car and tried to choke her. He then forced her back into the car, she says.
When asked how she survived the incident, twigs said: ‘I think it’s luck. I honestly wish I could say that I found some strength and I saw this light. I wish I could say, ‘[It is] a testament to my strong character,’ or ‘It’s the way my mother raised me.’ It’s none of that. It’s pure luck that I’m not in that situation anymore.”
FKA twigs said Shia LaBeouf failed to tell her he had an STD.
FKA twigs said the alleged abuse escalated after she moved into Shia LaBeouf’s Los Angeles home in October 2018, and she came to realise that she was in a relationship with an “inherently abusive person”.
She alleges that LaBeouf demanded that she kiss him a certain number of times a day, would wake her during the night to accuse her of a variety of indiscretions, and would insist that she sleep naked, accusing her of “holding her body away from him.”
The English singer went on to claim that LaBeouf slept with a gun beside his bed, and that she was afraid to go to the bathroom during the night in case he shot her, mistaking her for an intruder.
FKA twigs said LaBeouf would also get angry when she had fun with friends and demanded she avoid making eye contact with waiters when they visited Jamaica together, believing that she was sleeping with hotel staff.
Their relationship finally came to an end in May 2019 after twigs learned that LaBeouf had infected her with an STD, allegedly failing to tell her that he had the infection when they started a sexual relationship.
FKA twigs said she was left with PTSD after the relationship dissolved. She later approached him with a list of demands, calling on him to seek professional help, to donate funds to a women’s shelter, and to admit he had given her an STD.
However, the mediation process quickly broke down, prompting twigs to file a civil lawsuit in December 2020 in an effort to raise awareness of domestic abuse.
The singer also spoke to CBS’ This Morning about her relationship with LaBeouf, with the programme airing a teaser clip on Wednesday (17 February).
In the clip, twigs said the abuse began as something “very subtle”, but quickly became more serious.
“That’s the thing about domestic abuse, domestic violence, it’s a real gradual step-by-step process to get somebody to a place where they lose themselves so much they accept or feel like they deserve to be treated in that way. It’s not one thing, it’s loads of tiny little things that get sewn together into a nightmare,” she said.
FKA twigs’ full interview with CBS’ This Morning will air on Thursday (18 February).
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.”
His lawyers have since filed a case statement that he is willing to participate in mediation.
PinkNews has contacted a representative for Shia LaBeouf for comment.
