Shia LaBeouf attended the Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on 18 May 2025. Photograph: Lyvans Boolaky/Getty Images
Shia LaBeouf pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery charges on Wednesday, stemming from an incident at a New Orleans bar in February where he struck three men and allegedly used homophobic slurs. The actor, known for his role in the Transformers film franchise, was sentenced to two years of probation, along with mandatory alcohol abuse rehabilitation, sensitivity training, and anger management classes.
LaBeouf's attorney, Sarah Chervinsky, stated that her client is now "looking forward to focusing on family, work and new creative projects." She emphasized that the investigation concluded the arrest resulted from "nothing more than a minor ... bar tussle" on the morning of Mardi Gras. Chervinsky denied that LaBeouf's actions were driven by bias, despite video evidence showing him directing anti-gay slurs at the victims.
According to police, LaBeouf punched two men and head-butted a third at the R Bar in New Orleans' Marigny neighborhood around 12:45 a.m. on 17 February. Bar staff had asked him to leave after he became aggressive and insulted the men with homophobic remarks. LaBeouf was briefly jailed after being discharged from a hospital but released on a $105,000 bond, with a court order to enroll in substance abuse treatment.
One of the alleged victims, Nathan Thomas Reed, identifies as queer, and another, Jeffrey Damnit, dresses in drag. Damnit recorded a cellphone video of LaBeouf using the slur "faggot." Damnit initially hoped prosecutors would charge LaBeouf under a state law allowing enhanced penalties for bias-motivated crimes.
The formal charges were filed by District Attorney Jason Williams' office on 21 May. Chervinsky said LaBeouf, who bought a home in New Orleans in December, went to court "wanting to take accountability." Damnit's attorney, Michael Kennedy, noted that the outcome reminds everyone in New Orleans that "we don't treat people differently based upon relative fame." He expressed hope that LaBeouf would take the required programs seriously.
This is not LaBeouf's first encounter with the criminal justice system. He was arrested in 2014 for disrupting a Broadway show and allegedly using a homophobic slur toward a police officer. In 2017, he was arrested for disorderly conduct in Savannah, Georgia, where he made racist comments, leading to another court-mandated rehab stint.
In an interview after the New Orleans incident, LaBeouf told Channel 5 that "big gay people are scary" due to his "traditional Catholic" faith, and claimed "three gay dudes [were] next to me, touching my leg" before the violence. He added, "If that's homophobic, then I'm that."
