Shia LaBeouf has weathered multiple arrests, abuse allegations and more since his introduction into the spotlight as a child star.
The actor became one to watch while starring on the Disney Channel series Even Stevens. He went on to appear in both commercially successful and critically acclaimed films, including the Transformers franchise, Honey Boy and The Peanut Butter Falcon.
Despite his rising star, LaBeouf dealt with alcoholism and PTSD. “Alcohol or any of that s—t will send you haywire. I can’t f—k with none of it. I’ve got to keep my head low,” he told Variety in September 2016. “I got a Napoleonic complex. I start drinking and I feel smaller than I am, and I get louder than I should. It’s just not for me, dude.”
In addition to making headlines for his bizarre antics, the Holes star was arrested on several occasions. He was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing in June 2014 after disrupting the Broadway production of Cabaret, booked for misdemeanor public intoxication in October 2015, taken into custody in July 2017 for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness and charged with counts of battery and petty theft following a June 2020 altercation.
LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend FKA twigs filed a lawsuit against him in December 2020, accusing him of “relentless abuse” and sexual battery.
The Disturbia star told The New York Times in a statement that “many of these allegations are not true” but he accepted “accountability” for his mistakes. “I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism,” he said. “I am committed to doing what I need to do to recover, and I will forever be sorry to the people that I may have harmed along the way.”
In another statement, LaBeouf added: “I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel. I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”
Scroll through the gallery below to revisit LaBeouf’s ups and downs through the years.