Shia LaBeouf Apologizes After Racist Arrest Video Released: ‘I Am Deeply Ashamed’
“The severity of my behavior is not lost on me,” actor says
Tim Kenneally | July 12, 2017 @ 4:38 PM
Last Updated: July 13, 2017 @ 6:52 AM
Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images
Shia LaBeouf has issued an apology after a video of him making racist remarks during his arrest in Georgia over the weekend was released on Wednesday.
“I am deeply ashamed of my behavior and make no excuses for it,” the actor wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “I don’t know if these statements are too frequent, or not shared often enough, but I am sure my actions warrant a very sincere apology to the arresting officers, and I am grateful for their restraint. The severity of by behavior is not lost on me.”
The social-media mea culpa was issued after video of LaBeouf — who was booked for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct in Savannah over the weekend — was released, showing the former “Transformers” star telling a police officer that he was going to hell because he’s black.
“You’re going to hell, straight to hell, bro,” LaBeouf tells the African American officer in the video.
Asked by another officer why LaBeouf thinks his colleague is going to hell, LaBeouf replied, “Because he’s a black man. … That means a whole lot, bro.”
In a largely incoherent rant, LaBeouf went on to complain of “a black man who arrested me for being white,” denying that he’s racist because he was “asking three black people to have a cigarette.”
LaBeouf was arrested and booked on suspicion of disorderly conduct, obstruction and public drunkenness.
This isn’t the first bit of damning footage stemming from LaBeouf’s arrest to be made public. On Tuesday, video from LaBeouf’s arrest emerged, in which the actor called a police officer a “dumb f—” and a “stupid b—.”
LaBeouf continued, “You got a President who don’t give a s— about you, you’re stuck in a police force that don’t give a f— about you and you want to arrest white people who give a f—, who ask for cigarettes?”
“I came up to you trying to be nice, you stupid b—,” LaBeouf added. “I came up to you asking for a cigarette, you dumb f—! Why would I ask for a cigarette if I was racist?”
Shia LaBeouf's 17 Most Outlandish Stunts, From Multiple Arrests to Permanent Tattoos (Photos)
The former Disney Channel star and "Indiana Jones" protégé's personal life has garnered even more attention than his movies
February 2005 Shia LaBeouf was arrested by the LAPD for assault with a deadly weapon after crashing into their car and then allegedly threatening his neighbor with a kitchen knife.
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Nov. 4, 2007 LaBeouf was arrested for misdemeanor criminal trespassing when the manager of a Chicago Walgreens asked him to leave and he refused. The charges were later dropped.
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March 2008 A warrant was issued for LaBeouf’s arrest after he failed to appear in court following a February charge of unlawful smoking in Burbank. His lawyer appeared in court the next day and the judge recalled the warrant.
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July 27, 2008 LaBeouf’s truck was totaled after a car ran a red light and rammed into him. His left hand was crushed and he was arrested for refusing a breathalyzer test at the scene. The actor was later cleared of all fault for the incident.
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Feb. 5, 2011 LaBeouf fought another patron at Mad Bull’s Tavern in Sherman Oaks. He was placed in handcuffs but not arrested, and was later free to go.
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Dec. 17, 2013 LaBeouf was accused of plagiarism after his short film “Howard Cantour.com” was compared to Dan Clowes’ comic “Justin M. Damiano.” LaBeouf posted an apology, which was then criticized for being a plagiarism of a Yahoo! Answers post from 2010.
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Feb. 9, 2014 LaBeouf walked out of a news conference for “Nymphomaniac” after quoting French footballer Eric Cantona: “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”
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Feb. 9, 2014 (cont’d) While walking the red carpet for “Nymphomaniac” at the Berlin Film Festival, LaBeouf sported a paper bag emblazoned with the words “I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE.”
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Feb. 11, 2014 LaBeouf kicked off a six-day gallery with performance artists Luke Turner and Nastja Sade Ronkko in Los Angeles. Entitled #IAMSORRY, the performance consisted of the actor wearing a tuxedo and the paper bag, inviting people to come in one at a time, whereupon he would cry in front of them.
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June 26, 2014 LaBeouf is charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass for refusing to leave New York's Studio 54, where Alan Cumming was starring in "Cabaret." LaBeouf reportedly spat at the arresting officers before using an impolite slur. He later voluntarily agreed to seek treatment.
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May 2015 LaBeouf reunites with Turner and Ronkko for #INTRODUCTIONS, a half-hour series of monologues performed in front of a green screen. One of the segments, titled “Just Do It,” which consisted of the actor screaming inspirational messages at the camera, shot to viral status and became the most searched for GIF of 2015, according to Google.
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2015 While shooting the 2016 indie drama "American Honey," the actor got 12 tattoos -- including matching Missy Elliot portraits on each knee. "Peer pressure," he explained to Variety, which noted that director Andrea Arnold worried about changes to his character's appearance from scene to scene.
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November 2015 LaBeouf once again turned the camera on himself with #ALLMYMOVIES, a three day viewing marathon of all his movies that the actor live streamed himself watching.
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May 2016 LaBeouf, Turner and Ronkko embarked on a month-long journey called #TAKEMEANYWHERE, in which they would tweet out their coordinates, allow fans to find them and take them anywhere they chose. They started in Colorado and crossed the States before traveling through Canada and ending up in Alaska.
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Jan. 26, 2017 LaBeouf was arrested for misdemeanor assault after getting into a fight with a Bronx resident at an anti-Trump rally that LaBeouf has promised to livestream for the entirety of Trump's presidency. The charges were later dropped.
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July 8, 2017 LaBeouf was arrested in Savannah, Georgia, for public drunkenness, disorderly conduct and obstruction -- with bodycam footage showing a foul-mouthed tirade at the arresting officers. He pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct, and was fined $1,000 and ordered to receive therapy for anger management and substance abuse.
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July 2018 To play a gangster named Creeper in David Ayre's 2020 thriller "The Tax Collector," LaBeouf inked his entire torso, including the word "CREEPER" across his stomach -- a process artist Bryan Ramirez detailed on Instagram.
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The former Disney Channel star and “Indiana Jones” protégé’s personal life has garnered even more attention than his movies
The former Disney Channel star and "Indiana Jones" protégé's personal life has garnered even more attention than his movies