The Daily Populous Thursday February 19th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by Large_banana_hammock

The actor Shia LaBeouf allegedly aimed homophobic slurs at two men – one who identifies as queer and the other who dresses in drag – as the Transformers star was arrested for purportedly battering them at a bar early on Tuesday morning in New Orleans, the victims said.

Jeffrey Damnit – who was born with the last name Klein and was listed as one of the victims by New Orleans police – said in an interview on Wednesday that he was wearing mascara, eye shadow and lipstick when LaBeouf tried to beat him up “while screaming, ‘You’re a fucking faggot’”. He also shared a cellphone video showing LaBeouf in the back of a vehicle being examined by first responders, glancing over at Damnit and saying: “Faggot.”

“Keep on calling me faggot,” Damnit can be heard saying on the video.

Asked by text message if he would like to comment on LaBeouf’s arrest, the other man named by police as a victim in the case – Nathan Thomas Reed – replied: “I want it to be known that he was calling people faggot.” Reed said that included him – and that he identified as a queer man.

An initial police report furthermore alleged that LaBeouf was heard saying: “These faggots put me in jail,” while referring to his Catholic faith. But that detail was omitted from a sworn police statement that was later filed in criminal court summarizing the probable cause for LaBeouf’s arrest in connection with two counts of misdemeanor battery on the morning that Louisiana’s best known city celebrated its annual Mardi Gras holiday.

And in any event, the court ordered the 39-year-old, award-winning actor released from custody on his own recognizance pending the outcome of the case by Tuesday afternoon – before any of the allegations of homophobic comments had become part of the official record, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Representatives of LaBeouf did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the statements from Damnit, who spent Mardi Gras dressed in drag, and Reed. A police spokesperson declined to comment, saying: “This remains an ongoing investigation that has to be adjudicated in court. Should additional information become available for release, we will provide an update accordingly.”

Louisiana law does allow state prosecutors to file hate crime charges in cases where violent crime victims were targeted “because of actual or perceived race, age, gender, sexual orientation” or other such categories. It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday whether that law – which can enhance penalties for certain offenses – may become relevant in LaBeouf’s case.

Within hours of his release, LaBeouf was seen on Bourbon Street, a prime location during New Orleans’s famed festivities, dancing with Mardi Gras beads around his neck and his release papers in his mouth.

“God bless you, guys – Mardi Gras is amazing,” LaBeouf told a reporter from WAFB, a news station from nearby Baton Rouge. The award-winning actor went on to say that the best thing about Mardi Gras was the interesting people he had met.

At about 4.30am local time on Ash Wednesday he cryptically wrote on X: “Free me.”

Damnit, a frequent New Orleans visitor who resides in Los Angeles and acts, said he hoped Tuesday’s arrest would prompt the Screen Actors Guild president, Sean Astin, to investigate whether it is safe for LaBeouf to work with other members of their union.

“At any other day job, that would happen,” Damnit said.

The president of the New Orleans Pride Center, Kyle DeVries, also said the allegations of battery and homophobic remarks by LaBeouf came at a particularly precarious time for the LGBTQ+ community his organization serves.

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups such as Glaad and the Human Rights Campaign in recent years have documented a rise in attacks based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation in the US. That climate has resulted in part from Republican-controlled states eliminating or restricting rights and protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community. But, as DeVries put it, another has been the casual normalization of hurtful slurs.

“When you have someone with celebrity status attacking communities already so under attack, it could give others permission to do the same,” DeVries said, adding that he would like to see LaBeouf’s “peers in Hollywood hold him accountable” for any allegations that are substantiated.

“The people who hold the levers of power and determine whether he gets hired for a role or his next project gets funded need to demand … public change before any of that happens,” he continued.

Police allege that LaBeouf became increasingly aggressive at an establishment known as R Bar in New Orleans’ Marigny section, which is adjacent to the city’s renowned French Quarter. Damnit said he was at R Bar himself, and it appeared to him that LaBeouf was heavily inebriated.

Damnit, 49, allowed the Guardian to view multiple videos of LaBeouf getting in a bartender’s face, including one clip which showed the actor animatedly shouting.

Court documents state that LaBeouf tried to punch a bar manager who was trying to escort him out of the business. Then, once removed, LaBeouf allegedly punched Damnit – who was helping the bar manager – in his upper body.

LaBeouf subsequently returned and punched Reed in the nose, though the latter man said he did not want to fight, police said in court documents. In a preliminary report obtained by the Guardian, police claimed LaBeouf repeatedly called Damnit and Reed, 34, “faggot”.

“These faggots put me in jail – I’m a Catholic,” said LaBeouf, according to that report, written a little more than two years after he attracted news coverage for receiving that faith’s sacrament of confirmation in late 2023.

Damnit said LaBeouf also repeatedly told Damnit that he could kill him. Bystanders ultimately held LaBeouf down until police and paramedics arrived. He was taken to a hospital, discharged and then booked with two counts of simple battery.

The arrest prompted significant commentary among Mardi Gras revelers. Among them was Damnit, who posted several videos about LaBeouf, including one in which he simultaneously dismissed the actor as “a tool” and expressed a wish that “he finds the help he needs”.

Damnit on Wednesday said he thought “you wouldn’t be allowed to party on Bourbon” after LaBeouf’s alleged behavior. And Damnit said it disappointed him to see LaBeouf “was in jail for less time than I slept that night”.

A friend of Damnit, the criminal defense attorney Michael Kennedy, was with him on Wednesday and said it was concerning that neither the arrest affidavit filed in court nor a police statement to the media mentioned homophobic slurs. That was the case even when Damnit captured one instance on video.

Kennedy, who is gay, also said LaBeouf’s release from custody was exceptionally expeditious, especially during a time of year when little if any official business gets done quickly in New Orleans.

“It sends the wrong message that someone famous can come to our celebration and terrorize other attendees” without meaningful consequence, said Kennedy. “That is unacceptable.”

LaBeouf’s arrest papers list his address as a home with an assessed property tax value of nearly $840,000 – which was sold in December – in New Orleans’ West Riverside neighborhood. The celebrity news outlet Page Six reported that LaBeouf moved to New Orleans to be closer to family after a split with his wife, the actor and model Mia Goth.

Reports of LaBeouf engaging in unruly behavior across New Orleans in the lead-up to the celebration of Mardi Gras there had surfaced for days, including in the Hollywood Reporter.

Five months before his move, he settled a lawsuit from the British singer FKA twigs which accused him of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress during a past relationship. LaBeouf had denied wrongdoing.

He has previously discussed his struggles with sobriety, which involved court-mandated rehab after a 2017 arrest in Savannah, Georgia. Meanwhile, as he was being detained in 2014 pertaining to allegations that he disrupted a Broadway show in New York City, LeBeouf was accused of invoking the homophobic slur “fag” to insult a police officer.

LaBeouf’s next hearing in New Orleans criminal court was tentatively scheduled for 19 March.

Damnit contended that LaBeouf humiliated the acting profession no matter how the New Orleans case is resolved.

“I have a lot less credits than Shia LaBeouf,” Damnit said. “But it is embarrassing for me to have a Hollywood actor show up and embarrass the entire entertainment industry.”

silverado83 on February 18th, 2026 at 23:14 UTC »

Wasn't there also a video of him headbutting some dude randomly? No clue the timeline, seemed like he was stirring random shit for days.

SpaceCorvette on February 18th, 2026 at 23:12 UTC »

Actual Homophobe Shia LaBeouf

JermVVarfare on February 18th, 2026 at 23:03 UTC »

But he seems like such a stable and reasonable guy.