British singer FKA twigs has responded to Sia after the Australian star came forward with allegations she had been ‘conned’ into an ‘adulterous relationship’ with Shia LaBeouf.
FKA twigs, 32, filed a lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend LaBeouf, alleging he knowingly gave her an STD and abused her – both emotionally and physically – during their brief relationship in 2019.
Sia, 44, subsequently came forward with her own accusations against LaBeouf on Saturday, and FKA twigs responded personally to her on Twitter shortly after the revelation.
‘I’m sorry @Sia this reinforces why I had to publicly share my experience. We need to support each other,’ FKA Twigs tweeted on Sunday, in response to a tweet containing the allegations.
‘Love you’: British singer FKA twigs has responded to Sia after the Australian star came forward with allegations she had been ‘conned’ into an ‘adulterous relationship’ with Shia LaBeouf
‘We need to support each other’: FKA Twigs sent her love to the Australian singer (pictured 2013)
‘Love you back @Sia you’re an inspiration and thank you everyone for your love and solidarity,’ the singer responded in a separate tweet.
Sia made the allegations on Twitter shortly after FKA twigs sued LaBeouf for sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress.
On Twitter, Sia wrote in support of FKA twigs’ claims, which were published in an article in the New York Times, saying: ‘I too have been hurt emotionally by Shia, a pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship claiming to be single.’
‘I believe he’s very sick and have compassion for him AND his victims. Just know, if you love yourself – stay safe, stay away,’ she added of the 34-year-old Hollywood star.
Using her voice: Sia (pictured in 2009) tweeted her support on Saturday for British singer FKA twigs, 32, who is suing actor Shia LaBeouf, 34, for sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress during their relationship
The 34-year-old Transformers actor has responded to allegations of abusive behaviour, saying: ‘I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to doing what I need to do to recover, and I will forever be sorry to the people that I may have harmed along the way.’
Claims: FKA twigs claims her ex – who she dated briefly in 2019 – knowingly gave her an STD and relentlessly abused her while they were together. The then couple pictured together in Paris in September 2018
Praising @FKAtwigs for being open, Sia added: ‘Also I love you. This is very courageous and I’m very proud of you.’
In FKA twigs’ damning lawsuit, she details numerous alleged incidents of abuse including a time he threatened to crash a car if she didn’t say she loved him, and being allegedly woken up by him trying to choke her.
She also claims he forced her to sleep naked and that he kept a loaded gun by his bedside.
The pair dated for less than a year before ending things in May 2019 with sources saying at the time the separation was down to her work schedule.
History: Transformers star Labeouf appeared in the video for Sia’s 2016 song Elastic Heart, which featured on her album Girls Of Pop. She tweeted of the Transformers actor: ‘I too have been hurt emotionally by Shia, a pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship claiming to be single’
It’s not clear when Sia, pictured with her distinctive curtain of hair, and LaBeouf were romantically involved but she called the 34-year-old actor ‘very sick’
In one incident detailed in the lawsuit, the Transformers star was allegedly speeding in Los Angeles in February 2019 when the couple were returning from a trip to the desert.
He removed his seat belt and threatened to crash the car unless she told him she loved him, the lawsuit says. LaBeouf is said to have parked at a gas station after she begged him to stop and let her out.
When she removed her bags from the trunk, LaBeouf allegedly threw her against the car, screamed in her face and then forced her to get back in the vehicle.
Just prior to the gas station incident, FKA twigs alleges she woke in the middle of the night to find the Transformers actor choking her.
LaBeouf appeared in the 2015 music video for Sia’s song Elastic Heart, which featured on her album Girls Of Pop, alongside Dance Moms star Maddie Ziegler.
Labeouf and Dance Moms star Maddie Ziegler pictured together in the video for Sia’s huge hit Elastic Heart
Praising @FKAtwigs for being open, Sia added: ‘Also I love you. This is very courageous and I’m very proud of you.’
‘I can’t rewrite history’: Shia LeBeouf responds to allegations made by FKA twigs
‘I owe these women the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those thing I have done. As someone in recovery, I have to face almost daily reminders of things I did say and do when I was drinking.
Premiere: LaBeouf is pictured on the red carpet for Honey Boy at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019
‘It has always been easy for me to accept responsibility when my behavior reflects poorly on myself, but it’s much harder to accept the knowledge that I may have caused great pain to others.
‘I can’t rewrite history. I can only accept it and work to be better in the future. I write this as a sober member of a twelve-step program and in therapy for my many failings.
‘I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to doing what I need to do to recover, and I will forever be sorry to the people that I may have harmed along the way.’
It’s not clear when Sia and Labeouf were romantically linked. Before his relationship with FKA twigs, Labeouf spent years romantically involved with his Nymphomaniac co-star Mia Goth, whom he met while making the 2012 film.
Although the pair were pictured participating in a ceremony at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel in October 2016, and the actor said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that they had wed, Clark County contended that the event was not a legal marriage.
Shortly thereafter his representative told People magazine: ‘Shia and Mia have filed for divorce. The separation is amicable and all details pertaining to the divorce proceedings will remain private.’
However, Shia and Mia were spotted sharing a kiss on a park bench in March of this year while wearing their wedding bands.
In 2018, he acted opposite FKA twigs in the film Honey Boy, which he wrote as well as starred in, and the pair were seen out together in September of that year. She said he eventually convinced her to stay in Los Angeles with him instead of moving back to London, where she is based.
Saying her piece: British musical artist FKA twigs broke her silence Friday after revealing she was suing her ex. Labeouf responded with a statement saying he will be ‘forever sorry’ for people he harmed while under the influence of alcohol
News of the lawsuit broke on Friday and in a Twitter thread FKA twigs spoke publicly about the allegations she’s made, saying: ‘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.’
Barnett continued: ‘[W]hich 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.’
The British singer added: ‘i hope that by sharing my experience i can truly help others feel like they are not alone and shed some light on how those who are worried somebody they care about may be in an abusive relationship can help because i understand it can be confusing and hard to know what to do.’
Barnett noted: ‘[T]he statistics on domestically abusive and intimate partner violence relationships are shocking and during covid i have been really anxious because i know many victims will have been literally trapped with their abusers with no relief or way to get out.’
The Cheltenham-born musical artist wrote: ‘[M]y second worst nightmare is being forced to share with the world that I am a survivor of domestic violence my first worst nightmare is not telling anyone and knowing that I could have helped even just one person by sharing my story.’
She concluded: ‘[H]ere are some amazing charities and helplines that i recommend donating to and calling if you or somebody you know needs support…’
‘Sharing my story’: In a new Twitter thread she alleged: ‘it may be surprising to you to learn that i was in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship’
Her tweet referenced the National Domestic Violence Hotline as well as the Los Angeles-based organization FreeFrom and a group called Sistah Space that offers ‘Specialist support for African & Caribbean heritage women affected by DV’.
Labeouf allegedly hid his STD symptoms with make-up and knowingly infected at least one other woman before twigs, according to the singer, who described her ex-boyfriend as ‘a danger to women everywhere’.
‘A danger to women everywhere’ is how FKA twigs describes her former love in the lawsuit
The singer also says in the suit that LaBeouf would boast about driving round Los Angeles shooting stray dogs to get into character for an acting role as a killer.
She claims he told her he killed the animals because he wanted to ‘know what it felt like to take a life’ so he could get into character for his acting role in crime film The Tax Collector.
Twigs says in the suit that his claims left her ‘profoundly disturbed and terrified.’
In the lawsuit, twigs also claims LaBeouf went to great lengths to hide his STD from her after they had been in a sexual relationship for many months, reported The Sun.
She claims she confronted him when she started experiencing ‘unusual and painful symptoms’ in March 2019 and he admitted he had known for years about his diagnosis.
LaBeouf admitted to her then that he had a ‘flare-up’ of symptoms of his STD the previous December but had disguised the physical appearance with make-up, the lawsuit says.
‘Despite experiencing a flare-up of his symptoms, LaBeouf continued to engage in sexual relations with Tahliah, further exposing her to his disease,’ the suit reads.
‘LaBeouf admitted that he had never told Tahliah about his condition before, even though they had been sexually intimate for many months.’
The suit details how FKA twigs had bloodwork done to test for the disease and learned she had been infected. The singer also says in the lawsuit that she learned later that he had also infected at least one other woman prior to her.
LaBeouf allegedly also concealed his condition from this sexual partner.
The pair dated for less than a year before ending things in May 2019, with sources saying at the time the separation was down to her work schedule.
Throwback: FKA twigs is pictured at the 2019 Sundance premiere of Honey Boy, which was written by LaBeouf who also starred in it
The lawsuit says LaBeouf initially showed ‘over-the-top displays of affection’ towards her but then he started insisting on rules, including how many times she had to show affection to him in a day.
She claims he forced her to sleep naked and that he kept a loaded gun by the bed. In the lawsuit, twigs claims she feared going to the bathroom at night in case he thought she was an intruder and fired the gun.
The singer also says in the lawsuit that she later learned he didn’t like it if she spoke or even looked at male waiters. Twigs started keeping her eyes down when men spoke to her, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit details how LaBeouf started isolating her so much that she began doubting her creative team and her manager couldn’t reach her.
It came around the time she was finishing her Magdalene record, which resulted in the album’s release having to be delayed several times and her tour rescheduled.
Twigs said she eventually started seeing a therapist who started helping her plan her exit.
She was packing to leave in spring 2019 when it is claimed LaBeouf came to her house and allegedly ‘violently grabbed’ her in front of her housekeeper. He locked her in a room and screamed at her, the lawsuit says.
In an interview with the NYT, another one of LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriends, Karolyn Pho, described similar allegations related to her relationship with the actor.
She claims he pinned her to the bed while drunk and headbutted her until she bled.
In a statement to the NYT, LaBeouf said many of the allegations ‘are not true’ but he isn’t in a position to ‘defend any of my actions’. He blamed his alcoholism and PTSD.
‘I owe these women the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those thing I have done. As someone in recovery, I have to face almost daily reminders of things I did say and do when I was drinking,’ he said.
Cycle: Twigs, pictured with singer Dua Lipa, said she filed the lawsuit and was speaking out to show how someone with a large network like herself could be caught up in an abusive cycle
‘It has always been easy for me to accept responsibility when my behavior reflects poorly on myself, but it’s much harder to accept the knowledge that I may have caused great pain to others.
‘I can’t rewrite history. I can only accept it and work to be better in the future. I write this as a sober member of a twelve-step program and in therapy for my many failings.
‘I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to doing what I need to do to recover, and I will forever be sorry to the people that I may have harmed along the way.’
Twigs said she never reported LeBeouf to police because she initially feared it would harm her career and then because she thought authorities wouldn’t take it seriously.
She said that given the gas station incident happened in daylight, she feared her allegations would be largely dismissed.
‘I just thought to myself, no one is ever going to believe me,’ she told the NYT.
‘I’m unconventional. And I’m a person of color who is a female.’
Twigs said she filed the lawsuit and was speaking out about it to show how even someone with a large network like herself could be caught up in an abusive cycle.
‘The whole time I was with him, I could have bought myself a business-flight plane ticket back to my four-story townhouse in Hackney,’ she said.
‘He brought me so low, below myself, that the idea of leaving him and having to work myself back up just seemed impossible. What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life.
‘I don’t think people would ever think that it would happen to me. But I think that’s the thing. It can happen to anybody.’
The singer said she plans to donate a significant portion of any damages she receives from litigation to domestic-violence charities.