As we first reported on SFFGazette.com, Transformers star Shia LaBeouf has broken his silence after being arrested on two simple counts of battery during last month's Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans. Given some of the actor's remarks and the guy asking the questions, the conversation gives off serious Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis vibes.
It's the real deal, though, and the actor told Andrew Callaghan's Channel 5, "My behaviour, I gotta deal with that. Does that mean I gotta go to rehab again? I’m just not into it, bro. I don’t think my answers are there. I don’t. I really, genuinely, don’t. If I genuinely did, I’d go. I don’t think I have a drinking problem."
A New Orleans judge ordered LaBeouf to return to rehab on Thursday, but the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull actor believes his issues lie elsewhere. "I think I have a different problem, and I’m gonna address it. I think I have a small man complex."
"I think it’s something that has to do with anger and ego more so than my drinking," he continued, "but that’s where I’m at now on my journey, and I’m trying to navigate it. I’ll figure it out."
LaBeouf's well-publicised history of addiction and mental health struggles saw him enter court-mandated rehab after a 2017 arrest in Savannah, Georgia, for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He's previously blamed his struggles on untreated trauma and PTSD from childhood.
In one of the more bizarre moments of his and Callaghan's back and forth, LaBeouf explained that his recent altercation was a result of three gay men touching his leg. "I’ll be honest with you, big gay people are scary to me," he said. "I’m like, standing by myself and three gay dudes are next to me, touching my leg, I get scared. I’m sorry if that’s homophobic. Then I’m that."
Since the interview dropped, the actor has been arrested again in New Orleans. LaBeouf was taken into custody on Saturday after being charged with one additional misdemeanour count of simple battery.
His attorney, Sarah Chervinsky, has confirmed that he turned himself in after police issued a new warrant on Friday. In a statement, she said, "No regular person would be required to post over $100,000 in bonds and be jailed two separate times for one misdemeanour incident."
"Just as he does not deserve preferential treatment, Mr. LaBeouf also does not deserve to be treated more harshly by the police and courts just because he is a public figure."
LaBeouf appeared in three movies last year: Henry Johnson, Salvable, and a documentary about himself, Slauson Rec. He has a couple of movies in pre-production, though it's unclear what, if anything, this latest legal issue may mean for the former child star.
You can watch the full interview with LaBeouf on his recent legal troubles in the players below.