Singer FKA twigs has filed a new lawsuit against ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf, renewing an ongoing legal battle and alleging that the actor tried to silence her through an unlawful nondisclosure agreement.
The legal dispute follows accusations made in 2020 by FKA twigs — born Tahliah Barnett — who alleged that LaBeouf subjected her to “relentless abuse,” including sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. She later dropped the lawsuit.
The current lawsuit alleges that LaBeouf tried to silence FKA twigs through a settlement document that violated California’s Stand Together Against Non-Disclosure Act (STAND) following her 2020 lawsuit against him.
LaBeouf alleged in December that FKA twigs had violated the NDA in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, in which she was asked whether she felt a “sense of safety with the chapter behind her.” She responded, “No, I wouldn’t say I feel safe,” adding that she feels passionately about supporting organizations that assist survivors.
A court filing pushed back against LaBeouf's claims, describing FKA twigs’ statements as “laudable, generic, and benign” and arguing that they did not violate the NDA's terms — provisions the filing characterized as illegal and unenforceable.
Mathew Rosengart, an attorney for FKA twigs who also represented Britney Spears in the fight to end her conservatorship, told NBC News that his client “refuses to be bullied anymore.”
“This action was taken in response to Mr. LaBeouf’s attempt to bully and intimidate twigs through a frivolous and unlawful secret arbitration he filed against her in December in which he sought to extract money from her,” Rosengart said.
The lawsuit called the settlement’s NDA “vastly overbroad” and in violation of the STAND Act, which forbids NDAs that prevent victims of sexual harassment and abuse from speaking about their experiences.
The NDA hinges on LaBeouf’s contention that he is not covered by the STAND Act, according to the court filing. The lawsuit claims LaBeouf maintains an “erroneous” legal position — “that he is somehow not covered by the STAND Act because he was supposedly sued by Ms. Barnett in 2020 only for sexual ‘battery,’ not sexual ‘assault.’”
The lawsuit previously filed by FKA twigs, which she dropped in order to “move on with her life,” according to the current filing, alleged that LaBeouf choked her and threw her against a car on Valentine’s Day 2019. She twigs also claimed that LaBeouf knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease.
The lawsuit also cites LaBeouf’s recent legal trouble in New Orleans, where he was arrested after he was accused of punching several people during Mardi Gras celebrations and charged with an additional count of battery weeks later. The suit points to LaBeouf’s “erratic behavior”— including the public use of homophobic slurs — as evidence that FKA twigs’ comments could not have “damaged him or his career.”
In a statement to The New York Times following FKA twigs' 2020 lawsuit, LaBeouf acknowledged that he has “a history of hurting the people closest to [him].” “I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years,” he said.
LaBeouf did not immediately respond to request for comment through his representatives.
