FKA Twigs is detailing the “systematic” abuse she allegedly faced from ex Shia LaBeouf.
In a wide-ranging interview with Elle magazine following her lawsuit against LaBeouf, 33-year-old Twigs claims his love transformed from romantic to abusive — and that he allegedly knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease, allegations also included in her Los Angeles County Superior Court claim.
Following the STD diagnosis, which she describes as a final betrayal, Twigs gathered the courage to leave 34-year-old LaBeouf, whom she met after dating Robert Pattinson.
“I think it’s luck,” she said of being able to escape. “I honestly wish I could say that I found some strength and I saw this light. I wish I could say, ‘[It is] a testament to my strong character,’ or ‘It’s the way my mother raised me.’ It’s none of that. It’s pure luck that I’m not in that situation anymore.”
Twigs, who is now dating The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, claimed in the interview LaBeouf would use “calculated, systematic, tricky, and mazelike” tactics to keep her in the relationship, including “love bombing,” in which he would allegedly suffocate Twigs with flowers, mea culpas and more in order to win her back following a fight.
“It was a bit too much. It felt uncomfortable. I look back now, and it feels like really aggressive love,” she shared.
According to Twigs, LaBeouf’s alleged abuse didn’t happen overnight. Twigs claims the “Pieces of a Woman” star’s behavior worsened after she moved in with him and experienced an incremental increase in abuse.
“If you put a frog in a boiling pot of water, that frog is going to jump out straightaway,” she said. “Whereas if you put a frog in cool water and heat it up slowly, that frog is going to boil to death. That was my experience being with [LaBeouf].”
Twigs also became fearful of LaBeouf’s method acting, which she claimed involved him keeping a gun in the house. She also claimed LaBeouf, who has a tumultuous dating history with other Hollywood women, bragged about shooting stray dogs to “get into character” for his role in “The Tax Collector” and questioned him over it.
“And he was like, ‘Because I take my art seriously. You’re not supporting me in my art. This is what I do. It’s different from singing. I don’t just get up on a stage and do a few moves. I’m in the character,’” she recalled.
“He made me feel bad, like I didn’t understand what it was like to be an actor or to do this … Method [acting].”
When Twigs finally had enough, she started reaching out to her friends for help but ultimately became too afraid to do anything.
“[My friend] was expecting me to be at his house when he got back and I just wasn’t, and then I never spoke to him again,” she shared. “I used to get this feeling of intense fear and shame, and I would evaporate from people’s lives.”
With the relationship in her rear-view mirror, Twigs said she can resume enjoying normal life with friends and family without anyone controlling her.
“I have my life back. I can work as late as I want. I can see my friends. To be able to hit up Dua Lipa on Instagram, make a song with her, perform on her livestream, and have a new friend … and there’s no anxiety behind it,” she said. “No fear of, like, ‘What is this going to cause for me? What trouble am I going to be in?’”
LaBeouf, who has a troubled history with the law, has denied “each and every allegation” in Twigs’ lawsuit. LaBeouf’s attorneys argued in the documents that Twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Barnett, has “not suffered any injury or damage as a result of Defendant’s actions.”
They claim that LaBeouf’s alleged conduct was “reasonably necessary for his self-defense and/or safety.”
LaBeouf checked into a long-term treatment facility in December following Twigs’ lawsuit.