Shia LaBeouf charged in New Orleans, 11 years after Austin arrest

Shia LaBeouf was arrested Tuesday morning in New Orleans on two charges of simple battery.

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More than 10 years after his arrest on Sixth Street in Austin, Shia LaBeouf is again facing criminal charges following a late-night altercation — this time in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

The 39-year-old actor was arrested early Tuesday and charged with two counts of simple battery after allegedly punching two people at a bar on Royal Street, police said.

Authorities said LaBeouf struck a staff member and another person, punching one repeatedly before being kicked out. Patrons reportedly held him down until officers arrived. He was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for treatment of injuries sustained during the fight.

LaBeouf had been in the city celebrating Mardi Gras and was seen at the Bacchus Parade on Sunday.

A callback to Shia LaBeouf's Austin arrest on Sixth Street

The New Orleans arrest echoes LaBeouf’s 2015 run-in with police in Austin, where he was charged with public intoxication after an incident on Sixth Street.

According to the October 2015 arrest affidavit, LaBeouf and two women were stopped for jaywalking and obstructing traffic around 7:30 p.m. on a Friday. An Austin police officer reported that LaBeouf raised his hand toward drivers — including the officer — as if directing traffic while crossing against the signal.

Shia LaBeouf was booked into the Travis County Jail on Friday. COURTESY OF APD
Austin American-Statesman

The affidavit states the officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol and observed that LaBeouf’s speech was “slurred and thick-tongued” and his eyes “glassy and dilated.”

Police said LaBeouf became “increasingly confrontational, aggravated, profane and verbally aggressive” during the encounter. He allegedly puffed his chest and approached a man recording the incident in what the officer described as an aggressive manner, then got within two feet of the officer’s face and told him to “do whatever the (expletive) you gotta do.”

The officer wrote that he determined LaBeouf was “a danger to himself and others” and arrested him on the misdemeanor charge.

Previous legal troubles and public statements

LaBeouf’s arrest history stretches back further.

LaBeouf’s former partner, British singer FKA Twigs, filed a lawsuit against him in 2020 accusing him of “relentless abuse,” including allegations of choking and knowingly transmitting a sexually transmitted disease. The case was settled out of court in 2025.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, LaBeouf said he had “no excuses” for his “alcoholism or aggression.”

“I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years,” he said. “I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt.”

LaBeouf has been public about his struggles with alcohol, and the Associated Press reported the actor sought treatment for alcohol addiction in 2014. He was arrested for drunk driving in 2008 after crashing his car, the Associated Press reported.

Who is Shia LaBeouf?

Labeouf is an actor best known for his role in the “Transformers” franchise. He found childhood fame for Disney projects like “Even Stevens” and “Holes.”

He is of Cajun descent and has been known to frequent New Orleans around Mardi Gras in past years.