FKA Twigs and Shia LaBeouf reach settlement in abuse lawsuit

British singer-songwriter FKA Twigs and Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf have reached an agreement in her 2020 abuse lawsuit.

FKA Twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, had accused her former partner of physical, mental and emotional abuse.

In a joint statement, their lawyers confirmed the settlement, but said the details would “remain private”.

LaBeouf previously said many allegations against him are untrue but apologised for the hurt he had caused.

The settlement puts an end to a case that has dragged on for five years with little progress.

According legal documents seen by Us Weekly, Barnett asked the court to dismiss all claims against LaBeouf with prejudice, meaning that she cannot refile them in the future.

A trial had been initially set for last year but was later postponed.

On Tuesday, Barnett’s lawyer Bryan Freedman and LaBeouf’s lawyer Shawn Holley said both parties wished each other well.

“Committed to forging a constructive path forward, we have agreed to settle our case out of court,” they said in the statement.

“While the details of the settlement will remain private, we wish each other personal happiness, professional success and peace in the future.”

The pair met on the set of the movie Honey Boy in 2018 and dated for nine months, before splitting in 2019 citing conflicting work schedules.

But in legal documents filed in 2020, Barnett accused LaBeouf of “relentless abuse” including “mental and verbal harassment” that eventually turned into “physical violence”.

She detailed incidents of LaBeouf waking her up in the middle of the night and “strangling” her, throwing her against a car during an argument and becoming angry when she spoke to other men.

In a 2021 interview with Louis Theroux on his BBC Radio 4 Grounded podcast, Barnett said she felt “scared and intimidated and controlled” by LaBeouf, and was left with ongoing mental trauma from their relationship.

“I was left with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] from that, which again is just something that I don’t think we really talk about as a society just in terms of the healing when leaving, and how much work that has to be done to recover, to get back to the person that you were before,” she said at the time.

LaBeouf previously told The New York Times that many of Barnett’s allegations are not true but said he owed her and Karolyn Pho, another woman whose claims featured in the lawsuit, “the opportunity to air their statements publicly and [for me to] accept accountability for those things I have done”.

“I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say,” he added in another statement.

Barnett released her latest album Eusexua earlier this year and has received multiple accolades including two Brit Award nominations for best British female solo artist.

LaBeouf’s latest film was this year’s crime drama Henry Johnson. He is known for the Transformers franchise and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.