Does Shia LaBeouf suffer from PTSD? How witnessing his mother's sexual assault led to a troubled life
Controversies and Shia LaBeouf have had an inexplicable connection for a while now. Long before FKA Twigs filed a sexual battery lawsuit against the 'Transformers' actor, he had already had a brush with the law and was arrested more than once since 2014. LaBeouf has always bounced back though, with one great deal in the industry after the other, and when he wasn't starring in films, he was the muse for singers such as SIA's artistically complex music videos. LaBeouf now stands at the brink of the release of his upcoming film, 'Pieces of A Woman', where he stars opposite The Crown's Vanessa Kirby in a tumultuous relationship drama where a couple's life is tormented by the trauma of their home birth going horribly wrong. It brings to mind LaBeouf's own admittedly struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, about which he has opened up publicly before.
Why dos Shia Labeouf have PTSD?
The 34-year-old actor had addressed that he has been suffering from PTSD as a result of his complicated relationship with his parents. After his arrest due to disorderly conduct in 2017, the actor was reportedly diagnosed with PTDS when his court-ordered rehab began. In an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter's podcast 'Always Chatter', LaBeouf shared that his PTSD "was an issue" that had existed before he was formally diagnosed. "It was the first time I'd been told I had PSTD. I just thought I was an alcoholic, like a true blue drunk and I needed to deal with that," the actor said, adding: "I knew it was an issue but didn't know there was this extra whole other thing that was hindering my ability to have any peace in my life and my ability to deal with people."
What contributed to the PTSD was witnessing his mother getting sexually assaulted by a man. Speaking to Esquire about the traumatic event of being at the same place where he saw his mother getting raped, LaBeouf shared "I froze. The man ran out, and my mom ran after him. Dave, (a man who was supposed to be helping them), came running over. I remember he had a crossbow... They never found the guy." The interview was a tell-all about where the actor's violence stems from and he recalls, “The first time I got arrested with a real charge, it stemmed from the same sh*t. Some guy bumped into my mother’s car with his car in a parking lot, and my head went right to ‘You need to avenge your mother!’ So I went after the dude with a knife.”
Shia LaBeouf's arrests
As of now, it is unclear if LaBeouf followed up the diagnosis with continued therapy after the court-mandated process, but the actor remains to be one of the most controversial ones in the industry. His brushes with the law began all the way in 2004 when he was arrested at a Walgreens pharmacy in Chicago. The then 21-year-old actor was reportedly drunk at the time and refusing to leave the store despite the security guard's request. In the year 2014, he was in the limelight for starring in the explicit erotica 'Nymphomaniac, Vol I' to the premiere of which, he wore a paper bag over his head. The same year, the actor was arrested during a performance of cabaret for smoking inside the theatre, and standing up and shouting at fellow stars like Michelle Williams and Alan Cummings all during the first act of the show. Even LaBeouf's appearance in SIA's 'Elastic Heart' music video was slammed by many after he stared opposite Maddie Ziegler in what many found sprinkled with pedophilic undertones.
In 2016, as part of a performance art piece, LaBeouf slapped a student in the face inside an elevator. There was some beef between him and Soulja Boy the same year, and next year, in 2017, the actor was arrested and charged with assault at an anti-Trump protest for shouting at a man and pushing him. He made headlines the same year once again for having an outburst at a California bowling alley after a bartender refused to serve him fries. Later that year he was arrested in Georgia under charges of intoxication and disorderly conduct and went on a racist rant against a Black police officer, accusing him of arresting "White people who give a sh*t".
Realizations and controversies
Speaking to Esquire, he called the whole incident "mortifying" and said it came from "White privilege and desperation and disaster... It came from a place of self-centered delusion... It was me trying to absolve myself of guilt for getting arrested."
But controversies found LaBeouf once again in 2020, when he was first accused of wearing Brownface in David Ayer's movie 'The Tax Collector', and later by his ex-girlfriend Tahliah Debrett Barnett — stage name FKA Twigs - whose lawsuit claims LaBeouf would allegedly “drive around neighborhoods in Los Angeles and shoot stray dogs”, “in order to get into character” for the same film. “LaBeouf claimed he killed these dogs,” the court papers stated. FKA Twigs also alleges the actor would want to “know what it felt like to take a life” to get into the “mindset of a killer” that he was portraying in the film. These allegations accompanied a list of "relentless abuse" that she's suing him for, including sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress.
LaBeouf is currently dating 'One Upon a Time in Hollywood' star and Andie McDowell's daughter Margaret Qualley. His new film 'Pieces of a Woman' drops on Thursday, January 7 only on Netflix.