LaBeouf given probation for Mardi Gras assault
Actor Shia LaBeouf pleaded guilty to three counts of simple battery and was sentenced to probation for punching people outside a bar in New Orleans during Mardi Gras in February.
LaBeouf will also be required to attend an alcohol treatment program under the sentence handed down by an Orleans Parish judge on Wednesday, according to the actor’s attorney, Sarah Chervinsky.
LeBeouf, best known for his leading roles in 2007’s Transformers and 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, was released on bail after his arrest near the city’s historic French Quarter. Video of the Feb. 17 encounter shows a shirtless LaBeouf outside a bar pushing one person to the ground and striking another person in the face, “possibly causing his nose to dislocate,” according to a New Orleans police report.
Orleans Parish Judge Juana Marine-Lombard gave the actor a six-month suspended sentence and two years of supervised release. LaBeouf was also ordered to stay away from the three victims and the bar.
“Mr. LaBeouf came to court today to take responsibility for his part in what happened, and he did,” Chervinsky said.
“He now looks forward to focusing on his family, work and new creative projects.”
Local entertainer Jeffrey Damnit, identified by police as Jeffrey Klein in the incident report, said he was one of the people attacked by LaBeouf. He said that earlier in the night, LaBeouf had pushed him from behind at the bar, made homophobic slurs and threatened his life.
Chervinsky called it a “little Mardi Gras bar fight” and said there was “no evidence that this was related to bias or prejudice.”
Damnit’s attorney said his client hopes LaBeouf’s behavior will improve after he receives substance abuse treatment.
“We are all equal in New Orleans, we should all feel safe, and we do not treat people differently based on relative fame,” attorney Michael Kennedy said.
After LaBeouf was charged in February, a judge ordered LaBeouf to return to drug and alcohol rehab.
LaBeouf has had multiple run-ins with the law throughout his career, including a 2017 arrest in New York City on suspicion of assault that occurred during a live broadcast.
Later that year, while filming The Peanut Butter Falcon in Georgia, he was arrested for public intoxication and charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction, and was sentenced to probation.
In 2020, he was charged with misdemeanor battery and petit larceny in Los Angeles.
That same year, British singer and actor FKA Twigs, whose legal name is Tahliah Barnett, also filed a lawsuit alleging that LaBeouf physically and emotionally abused her during their relationship, which they agreed to in July.
The actor first gained acclaim as a child for his role on the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, and worked steadily into adulthood.
