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Singer FKA Twigs has filed a new lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf, renewing an ongoing legal battle and alleging the actor tried to silence her through an illegal nondisclosure agreement.
This dispute follows accusations made in 2020 by FKA Twigs, born Tahliah Barnett, who claimed that the actor had subjected her to violence. “incessant abuse” including sexual assault, assault and emotional distress. She later dropped the lawsuit.
The current lawsuit alleges that LaBeouf attempted to silence FKA twigs through a settlement document that violated California’s Stand Together Against Non-Disclosure Act (STAND) following his 2020 lawsuit against him.
In December 2025, LaBeouf alleged that FKA Twigs violated the NDA agreement in a interview with the Hollywood Reporter, in which the singer was asked if she felt a “sense of security with the chapter behind her.” She responded, “No, I wouldn’t say I feel safe,” adding that she passionately supports organizations that help survivors.
However, the court filing pushed back on LaBeouf’s claims, calling FKA Twigs’ statements “commendable, generic and innocuous” and arguing that they did not violate the terms of the NDA — provisions that the filing called illegal and unenforceable.
Shia LaBeouf and FKA Twigs walk along the Seine in Paris in 2018.Melody Jeng / GC Images fileMathew Rosengart, an attorney for FKA Twigs who also represented Britney Spears in the fight to end the pop star’s conservatorship, told NBC News that his client “refuses to be intimidated any further.”
“This action was taken in response to Mr. LaBeouf’s attempt to intimidate Twigs through a frivolous and illegal secret arbitration he filed against her in December in which he sought to extract money from her,” Rosengart said.
The lawsuit called the settlement’s NDA “very broad” and a violation of the STAND Act, which prohibits NDAs that prevent victims of sexual harassment and abuse from speaking out about their experiences.
The NDA relies on LaBeouf’s claim that he is not covered by the STAND Act, according to the court filing. The lawsuit claims that LaBeouf maintains an “erroneous” legal position — that he is somehow not covered by the STAND Act because he was allegedly sued by Ms. Barnett in 2020 only for sexual “battery,” and not for sexual “assault.”
The lawsuit previously filed by FKA Twigs, whom the singer abandoned in order to “move on with her life” according to the current filing, alleged that LaBeouf strangled her and threw her against a car on Valentine’s Day 2019. FKA Twigs also claimed that the “Transformers” star knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease.
LaBeouf’s recent legal problems in New Orleans, where the actor was arrested following accusations of punching several people during Mari Gras celebrations and charged with an additional count of battery weeks later, were also cited in the lawsuit. The suit highlights LaBeouf’s “erratic behavior,” including public use of homophobic slurs — as proof that FKA Twigs’ comments could not have “harmed him or his career.”
In a statement to The Times following FKA Twigs’ 2020 lawsuit, LaBeouf acknowledged that he had a “habit of hurting the people closest to him.” [him].” “I’ve been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years,” the former child star said.
LaBeouf did not immediately respond to his representatives’ request for comment.