Shia LaBeouf says he has cheated on every woman he has ever been with
‘I was a pleasure-seeking, selfish, self-centred, dishonest, inconsiderate, fearful human being,’ he said
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Shia LaBeouf has given a candid, two-hour interview about the abuse allegations that have been made against him, admitting that he has been unfaithful to every woman he has been with.
In December 2020, LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend, the musician FKA twigs, sued him for “relentless abuse” including sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress.
LaBeouf later denied causing twigs “any injury or loss”, saying that she was not “entitled to any relief or damages whatsoever”.
The trial date for twigs’s case against LaBeouf has been set for 17 April 2023.
In a new interview with The Walking Dead star Jon Bernthal on his podcast Real Ones, LaBeouf said: “I f***ed up bad. Like crash and burn type s***. I hurt a lot of people, and I’m fully aware of that. And I’m going to owe for the rest of my life.”
He said he has a “long list of people that I need to make amends to”, admitting that he has “cheat[ed] on every woman I’ve ever been with” and never told his “sexual partners about getting cold sores”, which he acknowledged was “manipulative”.
Without naming twigs, he said: “I hurt that woman. And in the process of doing that, I hurt many other people, and many other people before that woman. I was a pleasure-seeking, selfish, self-centred, dishonest, inconsiderate, fearful human being.”
The actor added: “When I think about what my life has become, and what it is now, like what my purpose is now… I need to be useful. And when I look at this #MeToo environment, there’s not a whole lot of dudes that are taking accountability.”
He said that when his accuser first made allegations against him, he’d wanted to “hit Twitter and be like, ‘Look, I got receipts.’” But he said he has realised his accuser is a “saint” and “saved my f***ing life”.
LaBeouf said: “Had she not intervened in my life and not created the avenue for me to experience ego death, I’d either have a really mediocre existence or I’d be dead in full.”
The actor said he is “in the tribe of the f***-ups”, adding: “I’m a very public sinner, a very fallible person in the public sphere. What I think now my purpose is, is to not do… the other examples that we’ve had of how to navigate something like this — which is to go after the woman, or try to win a court case, or get back into a f***ing movie or like get back on at all.”
LaBeouf talked about a seeming support group he is in – a “squad” of “60 dudes” who he meets every day on Zoom at 6pm. They go on bike rides on Thursdays and hang out at the beach on Sundays.
LaBeouf told Bernthal that going to rehab and raising a daughter with his wife, Emma star Mia Goth, have altered his outlook.
Bernthal told LaBeouf, on the podcast, that he is part of his “support system”. Promoting the interview on Instagram, he wrote: “Please join me for a conversation with my friend Shia. We discuss guilt, shame, making amends, friendship and so much more. I ask you to come with open eyes and an open heart. Big love y’all.”
Earlier this week, LaBeouf opened up about having suicidal thoughts in the aftermath of the abuse allegations.
He also denied that he was fired from Olivia Wilde’s film Don’t Worry Darling, and claimed Wilde was “heartbroken” over him leaving.
Wilde had previously said that she fired LaBeouf in order to create a “safe, trusting environment” on set, and claimed that his acting process “was not conducive to the ethos” that she demands in her productions.