This week, videos of Shia LaBeouf causing a scene in the streets of New Orleans circulated on social media. Mardi Gras was last Tuesday (Feb. 17), so the city has been lively. However, the actor’s behavior landed him in trouble with the local law enforcement. In addition to fighting with bar patrons, police now claim Shia was using homophobic slurs as well.
— Shia LaBeouf (@thecampaignbook) February 15, 2026
RELATED: Shia LaBeouf Arrested In Georgia For Disorderly Conduct And Public Drunkenness
Shia LaBeouf Charged In Connection To NOLA Fight
After his physical altercation, local law charged Shia LaBeouf with two counts of simple battery. Additionally, police are accusing him of repeatedly using homophobic slurs while striking multiple people at a New Orleans bar during Mardi Gras. These details come from a police report on the incident, obtained by the Associated Press through a public records request.
The New Orleans police report states that 39-year-old LaBeouf “became irate and aggressive throughout the night.” He allegedly struck multiple individuals with a closed fist at the Royal Street Inn & R Bar, near the historic French Quarter. He was eventually arrested.
On Tuesday, a New Orleans magistrate judge ordered Shia LaBeouf to be released from custody without a bond requirement, according to Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gary Scheets. In the early morning hours of Feb. 18, LaBeouf wrote “Free me” on his X account.
Free me
— Shia LaBeouf (@thecampaignbook) February 18, 2026
Man Who Actor Allegedly Attacked Describes Incident To Police
Jeffrey Damnit is a well-known local entertainer. Police identified him as Jeffrey Klein in the incident report. He claimed to be one of the individuals Shia attacked.
“He hit me, he connected a few times with punches, he pushed me a few times,” Damnit said.
LaBeouf “just got nuts” trying to start fights and telling the entertainer and others that he would beat them up, Damnit said. He added that LaBeouf had pushed him from behind at the bar earlier in the night, shouting homophobic slurs and threatening his life. At that time, Damnit was wearing eye makeup and lipstick. He believes his appearance motivated LaBeouf’s attack.
“That’s just somehow something that set him off, angered him and gave him a direction for his anger,” Damnit said. “This guy wants me to be dead because I wear makeup. It’s a screwed up thing.”
Damnit is a member of the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. He told the AP he is worried that he will face repercussions in his professional career for pressing charges against longtime Hollywood talent, Shia LaBeouf.
Videos Of Shia LaBeouf Acting Aggressively Go Viral
A viral video shows a shirtless Shia LaBeouf shoving one person to the ground and hitting another person in the face. According to the police report, the face hit caused “his nose to possibly dislocate.” Damnit and others detained LaBeouf and tried to get him to leave the area. However, the actor refused to leave and became more aggressive, according to Damnit and the police report. Police arrived at the bar around 12:45 a.m. on the morning of the city’s famous Fat Tuesday celebrations.
Shia LaBeouf fight in New Orleans pic.twitter.com/5itmRNJXH7
— Cringe (@CringeOnX) February 18, 2026
Another video recorded by Damnit and shared with the AP shows Shia LaBeouf looking at the camera and appearing to mouth a homophobic slur while police detained him. He continued to repeat the slur throughout his arrest, according to the police report.
“These f*****s put me in jail,” LaBeouf said, and then told police he’s Catholic, according to the report. “I didn’t shove nobody, I never touched nobody,” LaBeouf tells New Orleans police officers in the video recorded by Damnit.
Videos later show LaBeouf dancing throughout the French Quarter and appear to show him waving his jail release papers.
@tmz Shia LaBeouf was back on Bourbon Street after his Mardi Gras arrest —and tried to play it off like he wasn’t famous Footage shows him telling a streamer he’s “not anyone” … while still chatting it up with excited fans.
♬ original sound – TMZ – TMZ
Former Disney Actor Has Violent History
This isn’t the first time Shia LaBeouf has faced legal troubles. He was sent to court-ordered rehabilitation after being arrested in New York in 2017 for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. That incident was captured on livestream video.
While on location in Georgia filming ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon,’ later that year, he was arrested for public drunkenness. Then, police accused him of disorderly conduct and obstruction. A judge sentenced him to probation. Then in 2020, he was charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft in Los Angeles.
That same year, FKA Twigs, whose legal name is Tahliah Barnett, filed a lawsuit alleging Shia LaBeouf was physically and emotionally abusive during their relationship. Twigs said LaBeouf put her in a constant state of fear and humiliation. She accused him of once slamming her into a car and trying to strangle her. Also, she alleged that he knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease. They settled the lawsuit five years later, in July 2025.
LaBeouf apologized in a statement after the lawsuit was filed. He also denied the accusations in a lawsuit response filed in 2021. He stated any injuries or damages incurred by Twigs were not his doing.
RELATED: Shia LaBeouf Goes On Rant, Says “A Black Man Arrested Me For Being White”
Jack Brook from Associated Press/Report for America, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr and AP Writer Juan A. Lozano contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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