Shia LaBeouf Blames Bar Brawl on Fear of “Big Gay People”
The actor was arrested after allegedly assaulting bar patrons and shouting homophobic slurs during a Mardi Gras altercation in New Orleans.
Actor Shia LaBeouf says his arrest following a violent outburst — in which he allegedly assaulted bar patrons and shouted homophobic slurs — stemmed from his fear of “big gay people.”
Speaking with YouTuber Andrew Callaghan for the online outlet Channel 5, the 39-year-old Transformers star claimed that three gay men were touching him and intruding on his personal space.
“When I’m standing by myself and three gays are next to me touching my leg, I get scared,” LaBeouf said. “I’m sorry. If that’s homophobic, then I’m that. Yeah.”
He added, “I’ll be honest with you, big gay people are scary to me.”
LaBeouf was arrested outside the Royal Street Inn & R Bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter in the early morning hours of February 17 after allegedly engaging in a brawl with other patrons.
Two men — one who identifies as queer and another who occasionally performs in drag — allege that LaBeouf assaulted them and hurled homophobic slurs during the altercation. One of the men, Jeffrey Damnit, a.k.a. Jeffrey Klein, told People magazine that the actor had been “being a complete asshole to a lot of people” inside the bar.
“He was down the bar screaming and leaning over the bar screaming at the bartender,” Damnit claimed. “He was screaming at everybody, ‘You’re a fucking faggot.’ He was running around … saying, ‘Everybody’s a faggot.’ We’re just trying to stand in the way so he can’t get back in the bar. He’s lunging at a bunch of people.”
A video circulating online shows a shirtless LaBeouf shoving one person to the ground and hitting another in the face, which police say caused the man’s nose to dislocate.
Another video, recorded as LaBeouf was being arrested, shows him looking at the camera and appearing to mouth a homophobic slur, which he repeated multiple times, according to a police report. In the footage, LaBeouf says: “I didn’t shove nobody, I never touched anybody.”
Police transported LaBeouf to a local hospital for medical treatment, and later booked him on two misdemeanor charges of simple battery. He was later released on his own recognizance.
During a preliminary hearing on February 26, Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Simone Levine made the actor post a $100,000 bond to remain out of custody, and ordered him to undergo drug testing and enroll in substance abuse treatment. She also made him take a drug and alcohol test at the courthouse. Although she did not discuss specific findings, she said the test result left her concerned that LaBeouf “does not take his alcohol addiction seriously,” according to The Guardian.
On February 27, police obtained a warrant to arrest LaBeouf on charges of assaulting a third man — by head-butting him — and insulting him with homophobic slurs during the bar brawl. LaBeouf turned himself over to police prior to a bail hearing on Saturday afternoon. During that hearing, Magistrate Commissioner Jonathan Friedman set a separate $5,000 bail for LaBeouf, which the actor paid to ensure he remains out of prison while he awaits trial.
Sarah Chervinsky, LaBeouf’s defense attorney, took issue with Levine’s bail demands, telling The Guardian that “no regular person would be required to post over $100,000 in bonds and be jailed two separate times for one misdemeanor incident.”
It remains unclear what sparked LaBeouf’s outburst.
In the interview with Callaghan, LaBeouf appeared to suggest that he’d had an altercation with a gay person or was annoyed by gay people’s presence near him, reports NBC News.
“I’m good with gay — be gay over there, though,” he said. “Don’t be gay in my lap.”
Regarding Levine’s demand that he receive substance abuse treatment, LaBeouf told Callaghan, “My behavior [is] bullshit. I gotta deal with that. Does that mean I gotta go to rehab again? I’m just not into it, bro.”
LaBeouf said he believes he needs to deal with a “different problem.”
“I think I have a small man complex,” he told Callaghan. “I’m gonna address it … I think it’s something that has to do with anger and ego more so than my drinking, but that’s where I’m at now on my journey, and I’m trying to navigate it. I’ll figure it out.”
As noted by The Guardian, a Louisiana state law allows people to use a reasonable amount of violence “to prevent a forcible offense against [them].” It remains unclear whether he intends to rebut the charges against him by claiming self-defense from the men he perceived as being gay.
It is also unclear at this time whether prosecutors will pursue bias enhancements against LaBeouf, which could be brought if they believe they can prove that LaBeouf targeted his victims because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.
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