Shia LaBeouf has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of simple battery in connection to a New Orleans bar brawl that occurred three months prior. The actor, 39, was arrested in the early hours of February 17 on two misdemeanor counts of battery and was initially released on his own recognizance. However, he was subsequently required to post a $100,000 bond once the judge was apprised of allegations that LaBeouf used the term 'f****ts' during the brawl. His second charge carried an additional $5,000 bond.
The Even Stevens actor was able to remain out of jail with the proviso that he undergo regular drug and alcohol testing and also check into rehab. In the intervening months, he successfully obtained permission to fly to Rome in order to attend his father Jeffrey LaBeouf's baptism.
This Thursday, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office finally filed charges against the 39-year-old, according to the local news station WWL. In his first interview after the incident, granted later that month, the former child star said he was nervous about the gay men who approached him on Fat Tuesday.
'Big gay people are scary to me,' LaBeouf shared to Andrew Callaghan on Channel 5. 'When I'm standing by myself and three gay dudes are next to me, touching my leg, I get scared. I'm sorry. If that's homophobic then I'm that.'
Expanding on his state of mind, he said: 'I was drunk and then I felt infringed upon in terms of my proximity. But I wasn't in my right mind, and so it's on me.' With regard to claims he used a gay slur, the Holes actor admitted: 'I said words not okay to say. I don't want to hurt nobody's feelings.... I'm wrong for what I did.'
Eyewitnesses accused LaBeouf of getting increasingly aggressive during the incident, which took place at R Bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In the bystanders' version of events, staff attempted to escort him out of the venue and he punched a man with closed fists multiple times. According to the authorities, he later came back to the watering hole and struck the same man, in addition to which he punched another man in the nose. LaBeouf was allegedly physically restrained by fellow customers at R Bar while they waited for police, per witnesses who spoke to law enforcement.
LaBeouf told Callaghan he relocated to New Orleans, where he has deep family roots, following the Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025. LaBeouf detailed some family history elsewhere in the interview. He explained that his paternal grandmother was a lesbian who married a man who served as her 'beard,' a partner meant to publicly disguise someone's homosexuality. His last name was originally spelled LeBoeuf but the spelling was changed by his grandmother in an effort to distance herself from her family, who had disowned her.
Speaking on the subject of homosexuality, he clarified: 'I'm good with gay. Be gay over there though. Don't be gay in my lap.' In the wide-ranging interview, the movie star briefly discussed the demise of his marriage to actress Mia Goth. The exes share daughter Isabel, who turned four in March. 'It's not new heartbreak. I don't want to talk too much about it. It's not my story alone to tell, but my side is I failed my marriage, so I had to own up to that. So that's why I moved out here,' he said.
