Shia LaBeouf allegedly spewed homophobic slurs before Mardi Gras arrest

Shia LaBeouf, star of Holes, Transformers, and Honey Boy, was arrested in New Orleans on two counts of misdemeanor battery after allegedly attacking two men at a local bar and shouting homophobic slurs in the early hours of Mardi Gras day, according to The Guardian.

One of the victims reportedly identifies as a queer man, while the other victim was reportedly dressed in drag. The latter man, Jeffrey Damnit, wore "mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick" at the time of the incident, The Guardian reports. Damnit said LaBeouf tried to beat him up, screaming, "You're a fucking faggot." A video of LaBeouf getting examined by first responders allegedly shows the actor looking in Damnit's direction and calling him a "faggot."

Queer-identifying Nathan Thomas Reed, the second victim named in the police report, shared his own perspective with the publication via text message: "I want it to be known that he was calling people 'faggot.'" Reed seemingly confirmed that he was a target of LaBeouf's antics, too.

An early New Orleans police report obtained by The Guardian reaffirms the allegations that LaBeouf referred to Damnit and Reed as "these faggots put me in jail — I'm a Catholic." However, the publication notes that this particular detail "was omitted from the sworn probable cause statement later filed in criminal court."

Louisiana law allows for hate crime charges in cases where victims are targeted "because of actual or perceived race, age, gender, sexual orientation," but it wasn't immediately clear whether that law would be applied in LaBeouf's case, The Guardian reported.

LaBeouf was released from jail Tuesday afternoon. Indeed, The Guardian reported that "within hours of his release, LaBeouf was seen on Bourbon Street…dancing with Mardi Gras beads around his neck and his release papers in his mouth." The actor was even interviewed by a reporter from a local news station, WAFB, saying: "God bless you, guys — Mardi Gras is amazing."

By 4:30 a.m. CST, on Ash Wednesday, LaBeouf shared an X post that read, "Free me."

LaBeouf has publicly discussed various traumatic experiences he's faced over the years. Notably, he discussed personally struggling with addiction to substances his entire life — which led to previous arrests — adding that he was exposed to drugs as a young child.

The actor has also discussed having a hard time navigating fame (which led to a red carpet moment at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival in which the actor covered his face with a paper bag that read, "I am not famous anymore") and having an abusive and neglectful childhood (which is the main storyline of his critically acclaimed 2019 film Honey Boy, written by LaBeouf based on personal experiences).

In December 2020, LaBeouf was also accused of physical and emotional abuse by three women — including FKA Twigs (who dated the actor between 2018 and 2019) and Sia (the actor starred in the singer's music video for "Elastic Heart" in January 2015).

This story is still developing…