Australian singer Sia has tweeted her support for FKA twigs, who is suing actor Shia LaBeouf, her former boyfriend, for sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress.
The 44-year-old Elastic Heart singer called LaBeouf ‘a pathological liar’, claiming she was also mistreated by him.
British singer FKA twigs, 32, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles on Friday, alleging LaBeouf knowingly gave the singer, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, an STD and abused her – both emotionally and physically – during their relationship.
On Twitter, Sia wrote in support of her claims, saying: ‘I too have been hurt emotionally by Shia, a pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship claiming to be single.’
Scroll down for video
Using her voice: Australian singer 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
Claims: FKA twigs claims her ex knowingly gave her an STD and relentlessly abused her while they were together. The then couple pictured in Paris in September 2018
‘I believe he’s very sick’: ‘I too have been hurt emotionally by Shia, a pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship claiming to be single,’ claimed Sia, 44
‘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.
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’ 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.
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.
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 they 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.
When he was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2016 he said that he and Mia had ‘been together for four years now.’
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.
Throwback: Shia and Dance Moms star Maddie Ziegler both featured in the 2015 music video for Sia’s song Elastic Heart, which featured on her album Girls Of Pop
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.
FKA twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, claims in her suit that he knowingly gave her an STD and relentlessly abused her during their relationship.
Remember when: Shia and Maddie are pictured together in the video
News of the lawsuit broke this Friday and in a Twitter thread that day she alleged: ‘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.’
Saying her piece: British musical artist FKA twigs broke her silence Friday after suing her ex
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…’
Her tweet plugged 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’.
Barnett filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles, accusing LaBeouf of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress, the New York Times reports.
The lawsuit alleges LaBeouf knowingly gave the singer a sexually transmitted disease and abused her – both emotionally and physically – during their relationship.
Shia 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’.
‘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’
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.
In the lawsuit, twigs 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 flareup of his symptoms, LaBeouf continued to engage in sexual relations with Tahliah, further exposing her to his disease,’ the suit says.
‘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 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.
In the suit, twigs says her ex’s ‘reckless disregard for the health and safety of his partners makes him a danger to women everywhere.’
The singer also alleges LaBeouf boasted that he would drive around neigborhoods in LA and shoot dead stray dogs.
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.’
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
In one incident detailed in the lawsuit, LaBeouf was allegedly speeding in Los Angeles in February 2019 when they 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 twigs 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, twigs alleges she woke in the middle of the night to find the Transformers actor choking her.
Twigs said she first met LaBeouf in 2018 when she starred in the Honey Boy movie he wrote, and the pair started dating after they finished filming.
Premiere: LaBeouf is pictured on the red carpet for Honey Boy at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019
She said he eventually convinced her to stay in Los Angeles with him instead of moving back to London, where she is based.
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.
‘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.
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
