Shia LaBeouf just can’t stay out of trouble in Austin. Last year, he was arrested for public intoxication on Sixth Street during ACL weekend two. And now, a little over a year later, locals say the Emmy winner caused another scene during a Warpaint show at Emo’s while in town on November 17 for a screening of his new post-apocalyptic drama Man Down.
According to this Reddit thread, LaBeouf sexually harassed at least two girls, pushing himself in between one girl’s legs and then circling another while making lewed comments and gestures. After the band and a few members of the crowd intervened, he was ejected from the club, but showed no further aggression.
One Redditor, who claims to have been involved with efforts to push LaBeouf out of the crowd, gave this detailed account of the scene…
He wasn’t starting fights by pushing people around. He kept pushing the envelope with his harassment towards girls. It started with him staring one down while walking into her, and when her friend shoved him and yelled “get the fuck off of her!”. He kept magnetizing to the front, and somewhere in the mix he was pushing his leg in between my friend Livi’s. She shoved him down, and that’s when I tried to push him out of the crowd. Then someone stopped me because it was Shia. So he got up, I confirmed it. So I calmed down and smiled. But he started up the act again with another girl. He was circling her and aggressively saying stuff like how he was going to hurt her into her ears. Acting like he owned her. Doing the cunnilingus gesture inches from her face.
After the band pointed it out, all eyes were on him and I wasn’t giving him the aggression he was looking for. He never fought back, so I know he was using this experiment idea to be a drunk jackass and get away with it. So when he left, he raised his voice and said nicer things in the same angry tone so everyone would stay starstruck.
I had respect for Shia and his public experiments, and wished I would see him one day. But after this, I understand why he was arrested 1 year ago on 6th street.
Shortly thereafter, another Redditor shared a screenshot of a Facebook update from one of the women LaBeouf allegedly harassed.
Whether it was a case of public intoxication or just another of his odd public performance art experiences, we’ll never know. We do know you can see LaBeouf on the big screen in Man Down, opening December 2.
A request for comment from LaBeouf went unanswered.
——
Featured photo: Wikimedia commons.
