FKA twigs’ sexual battery lawsuit against former partner Shia LaBeouf will finally have its time in court next year. Rolling Stone reported that the trial will start April 17, 2023, after she originally filed the lawsuit in 2020. Her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told Rolling Stone in a statement, “The gaslighting has gone on long enough here and it’s time to hold Shia LaBeouf accountable. My client wants a trial date.”
In an interview with The New York Times in 2020, twigs, whose real name is Taliah Barnett, opened up about the “relentless abuse” she says she went through while dating LaBeouf. She described the incident that motivated her to file the lawsuit in the first place — a day in 2019 when things allegedly came to a head between the two. The New York Times describes the situation in which LaBeouf was driving recklessly with twigs in the passenger seat. The lawsuit claims they were returning from a trip in which he “raged” at her the whole time. They then stopped at a gas station, where twigs claims in her lawsuit that LaBeouf assaulted her and threw her against the car while screaming at her.
“What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life,” she told The New York Times. “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 two originally met when they worked together on 2018’s Honey Boy. They dated for a while, and in twigs' lawsuit, she claimed she struggled with his behavior for quite some time but felt that it was “both difficult and dangerous” to get out of the relationship. She also cited concerns with times he “violently” touched her or screamed at her, even alleging that he didn’t like it if she even looked at another man.
LaBeouf gave a statement to NYT in 2020 in response to twigs' filing, saying, “I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel. I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. 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, in February 2021, LaBeouf denied allegations, according to Rolling Stone, with his lawyers saying that the actor did not cause “any injury or loss” to twigs and that she is not “entitled to any relief or damages whatsoever.”
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