FKA twigs remember some unusual rules when she dated actor Shia LaBeouf.
‘I was told I know what he’s like, and if I love him I would not look men in the eye, so that was my reality for a good four months towards the end of the relationship, and I may do not look men in the eye, ”said Twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, in the latest issue of BBC podcast Founded with Louis Theroux.
Twigs went out with LaBeouf after she starred with him in the 2019 movie Sweet boy, inspired by LaBeouf’s own life as a child actor. They broke up after almost a year in June 2019. In December, she filed a lawsuit against LaBeouf in which she alleged that she caused sexual batteries, assault, emotional distress and that he deliberately gave her a sexually transmitted disease. A second ex-girlfriend, Carolyn Pho, added her own allegations to the case.
‘So then I look down all the time,’ said twigs, ‘and, you know, it does a lot to someone’s self-confidence when you’m worried that someone in a store is nice to you. Just any kind of daily, pleasant interaction can lead to a three-day event in which I am touched and kept awake. ‘
While twigs said it was forbidden to pay attention to others, she had to have a certain number of interactions with LaBeouf every day.
‘I had a quota that I had to meet, that changed … it was, like, touch, or appearance, or kisses, that his previous partner apparently met this number very well, so I was’ inadequate’ compared to a previous partner of his, and I had to get the touch and the kisses right, ”she explained. “But I never knew exactly … what the number was exactly, but it was about 20 a day.”
If she did not meet it, twigs said she was tormented and felt like I was the worst person ever. I really thought I was so cold and so awful and such a terrible girlfriend. “She even calls an ex crying and asks if any of it is true. “I just did not know who I was. I was hollow. ”
She stopped talking to family and friends. According to her, the departure felt impossible until an incident in the case was described. The couple undertook a journey to the desert, in which the Transformators star allegedly choked twigs while she slept and at a gas station, and then deliberately drove recklessly and threatened to crash the car unless she said she loved him.
‘I remembered returning to where I was staying and calling an abused female helpline. And I literally googled just like a free line for abuse of women in Google USA, ‘said Twigs. “You know, I just called the first one who called.”
It did not happen immediately, but she planned to leave. The musician called her best friend and started seeing a therapist twice a week. Even after she ended the relationship, she said panic attacks had plagued her for a while.
Reps to LaBeouf did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Yahoo Entertainment. When Twigs first made her allegations public, LaBeouf issued a statement:
‘I’m not able to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel. “I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, but only rationalizations,” he said. ‘I’ve been busy with myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I am ashamed of that history and am sorry for those I have hurt. There’s nothing else I can really say. ”
Although LaBeouf said many of the allegations against him were “not true”, he said he owed the women ‘the opportunity to air their statements in public and take responsibility for the things I did. ‘ He added that he was enrolled in a 12-step program. “I have not been cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to doing what I have to do to recover, and I will forever feel sorry for the people I have harmed along the way.”
Twigs said part of what makes her stand out is to hear that many victims of abuse during the pandemic are confined to their homes with their abusers, which is raising rates.
“This situation is not really about Shia anymore, and it’s not really about me,” she said. “I’m doing it for something much bigger, that is … I just want to change the conversation and the stigma surrounding domestic abuse.”
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline 24/7 at 800-799-7233 or via online chat at thehotline.org.
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