Shia LaBeouf blames ‘small man complex’ for alleged assaults and homophobic slurs | Shia LaBeouf
Actor Shia LaBeouf said he believes he needs to address his “little man complex” rather than enter another round of drug treatment following his recent arrest over allegations that he beat three men in a New Orleans bar while hurling homophobic slurs at them.
In an interview published on YouTube by online channel Channel 5 on Saturday, the star of the Transformers film franchise also admitted that “big gay people scare him.” Yet, perhaps providing insight into a possible defense in court, he also argued that the violence at the center of his arrest only erupted after his alleged victims touched him in a way that made him uncomfortable.
“My behavior [is] bullshit. I have to deal with this,” LaBeouf remarked in the interview. “Does this mean I have to go back to rehab? I’m just not interested, bro.
He continued: “I don’t think my answers are there. I don’t. I really don’t. If I really did, I would go for it. I don’t think I have a different problem.”
LaBeouf said he instead had to tackle what he described as “a different problem.”
“I think I have a little man complex,” LaBeouf told Channel 5’s Andrew Callaghan.
He also said, “I’m going to fix it…I think it’s something that has more to do with anger and ego than my drinking, but that’s where I am now in my journey, and I’m trying to figure myself out.”
“I’ll find out.”
The 39-year-old’s comments stem from his arrest on suspicion of misdemeanor battery at R Bar in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans early on Feb. 17, the city’s Mardi Gras holiday. He was allegedly asked to leave around 12:45 a.m., but allegedly punched two men and head-butted a third while calling them anti-gay slurs.
LaBeouf was initially arrested in connection with the punching charges, which involved a man who identified as gay and another who dressed in drag, with both reporting that he called them “fags.” He was quickly released on his own recognizance after that first arrest, meaning he did not have to post bail.
He was seen later that day on New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street, a prime location for Mardi Gras festivities.
At a preliminary hearing in criminal court Thursday, New Orleans Judge Simone Levine required LaBeouf to post $100,000 bail to stay out of custody and ordered him to submit to drug testing as well as enroll in drug treatment.
Levine further required LaBeouf to take a drug and alcohol test at the courthouse. Without discussing the specific results, she said the test result left her concerned that LaBeouf “doesn’t take his alcohol addiction seriously.”
LaBeouf, who is described in records as a New Orleans resident, walked away from reporters after posting bail and leaving the courthouse where Levine works.
On Friday, city police obtained a warrant for his arrest, alleging he had punched a third man – head-butting him – and insulted him with homophobic slurs at R Bar 10 days earlier. He turned himself in to authorities before his bail hearing Saturday afternoon.
Commissioner Jonathan Friedman, at that hearing, set a separate bond of $5,000 for LaBeouf. LaBeouf was quickly released on bail to secure his release pending the outcome of the case.
LaBeouf’s Channel 5 interview was posted online Saturday morning ahead of his hearing before Friedman. At one point in the conversation, he brought up his “traditional Catholic” faith, as he often does, and said, “I’ll be honest with you: Big gay people scare me.” »
He continued: “I’m thinking, I’m standing alone and three gay guys are next to me and touching my leg – I’m scared.
“I’m sorry – if that’s homophobic, then I am.”
Attempts to contact two of the alleged victims of LaBeouf’s assault — a bar employee and another patron — to discuss this portion of the Channel 5 interview were not immediately successful. The third alleged victim declined to comment.
LaBeouf’s claims to Channel 5 come amid widespread speculation in the New Orleans legal community that he could be formally charged under a state hate crimes law that allows for harsher penalties against anyone who victimizes another person on the “real or perceived” basis of certain categories such as gender or sex.
“I will live with whatever happens,” LaBeouf said during the interview. “God bless them all.”
Meanwhile, a state law in effect in New Orleans also allows people to use a reasonable level of violence “to prevent a forcible offense against an individual.” [them]”.
Much of the case that led to LaBeouf’s arrest was captured on cellphone video. In a video seen by the Guardian, he can be seen saying the word “faggot” at one of the alleged victims, while telling police: “I didn’t push anyone – I never touched anyone.” »
He nevertheless told Callaghan during Saturday’s interview: “I’m wrong to touch anyone. And that’s the end of my statement on all this shit.”
A statement from LaBeouf’s private attorney, Sarah Chervinsky, argued that “no ordinary person would be required to post more than $100,000 bail and be jailed twice for a single offense.”
Chervinsky’s statement further asserts: “Just as he does not deserve preferential treatment, Mr. LaBeouf also does not deserve to be treated more harshly by police and courts simply because he is a public figure.” »
LaBeouf’s arrest in New Orleans is not his only run-in with the American criminal justice system. While arrested in 2014 over allegations that he disrupted a Broadway show in New York, LaBeouf was accused of insulting a police officer with the homophobic slur “faggot.”
He was recorded saying that police were racist and that a Black officer at the scene would go to hell during a 2017 disorderly conduct arrest in Savannah, Georgia, that led to a court-ordered stint in rehab.
LaBeouf’s Channel 5 interview was a more eloquent response to the allegations against him in New Orleans than the one he offered to a Guardian reporter who had previously approached him about it.
He told this reporter: “Get your ass out of here, you stupid bitch.” »
