FKA Twigs is suing her ex Shia LaBeouf, five years after she sued him for sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress.
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The complaint calls the legality of the nondisclosure provisions of the former couple's 2025 settlement into question, and claims the NDA is being used to "silence" Twigs.
"This is a case about justice and law, not money," the complaint states. "She files this action to right a wrong, and also on behalf of other women who are the victims of sexual and domestic violence."
Actress and musicianFKA Twigsfiled a new lawsuit against her ex,Shia LaBeouf, on Wednesday, five years after she firstaccused theTransformersfilm star of "relentless abuse"in a suitsettledin 2025.
Attorneys for Twigs, who was born Tahliah Barnett, seek to block LaBeouf from being awarded "exorbitant monies" he sought in a secret arbitration complaint against Twigs in December. The suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday alleges that LaBeouf filed the complaint due to a comment the musician made toThe Hollywood Reporterin October, in apparent violation of the terms of their 2025 settlement's nondisclosure provisions.
"She files this action to right a wrong, and also on behalf of other women who are the victims of sexual and domestic violence who do not have the resources to speak out and defend themselves from predators," the suit states. "In so doing, she seeks to ensure that survivors of sexual misconduct are not themselves bullied or silenced like she was by agreements that violate California law and public policy."
Mathew S. Rosengart, an attorney for Twigs, shared in a statement with EW, "This action was taken in response to Mr. LaBeouf's attempt to silence and intimidate my client through a foolish, frivolous, and unlawful secret arbitration he filed against her in December. We are pleased to have obtained its dismissal earlier this month, and to her great credit and on behalf of other survivors as well, twigs refuses to be bullied anymore. This is not about money but about upholding and enforcing California law and policy designed to protect survivors by nullifying illegal NDAs."
A representative for LaBeouf had no comment.
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Wednesday's filing claims that LaBeouf's move to enforce their 2025 NDA is an attempt "to silence her by extracting a settlement document containing terms that are unlawful under California's Stand Together Against Non-Disclosure Act."
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Passed in 2018 in the wake of #MeToo movement that mobilized women in Hollywood against sexual assault and exploitation, theSTAND Actprohibits the use of NDAs to suppress factual information pertaining to claims of sexual assault, harassment, and other forms of sex-based discrimination.
The lawsuit calls LaBeouf's arbitration claim "legally frivolous" because of the STAND Act; LaBeouf's conduct since the settlement, including anerratic series of recent actsover multiple nights out partying in New Orleans; and because the comments Twigs made toTHRare "generic and benign."
To the question of whether Twigs felt safe following the 2025 settlement, the musician told the outlet, "No, I wouldn't say I feel safe. I feel really passionate about being involved with organizations such as Sistah Space and No More, to help survivors in any way that I can. I think it's less about me at this point and more about looking forward. Just, you know, moving on with my life."
Twigs and LaBeouf met in 2018 while making the filmHoney Boy, a semi-autobiographical account of theEven Stevensactor's tumultuous childhood. They dated for less than a year, and in December 2020, Twigs sued him for sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress. The "Two Weeks" musician claimed that LaBeouf violently attacked and strangled her, knowingly gave her an STD, and threatened to crash a car they were driving in unless she declared her love for him.
Another ex of LaBeouf's, stylist Karolyn Pho, also accused him of abuse in the suit, claiming he once drunkenly pinned her to a bed and head-butted her until she bled.
LaBeouf denied the allegations at the time, but also toldThe New York Timesthat he was "not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel" and admitted to being "abusive to myself and everyone around me for years."
In 2022, LaBeouf shared about Twigs, "I hurt that woman, and in the process of doing that, I hurt many other people, and many other people before that woman."
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