Shia LaBeouf was arrested in New Orleans early on Tuesday, during Mardi Gras celebrations. Now, new attention is focusing on him because someone who says he was involved in the incident claims he was targeted in a confrontation that he calls a possible hate crime.
The fight happened 15 minutes after midnight at a bar called R Bar in the Faubourg Marigny area.
Video of the event spread online, showing LaBeouf acting aggressively and being held back outside the bar. The incident left two bartenders hurt and LaBeouf charged with two counts of simple assault. He was released on his own recognizance by early afternoon on Tuesday and is set to appear in court on March 19.
Jeffrey, known as "Dammit," is a local figure and has worked at various events in New Orleans.
He is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild and lives and works in Hollywood most of the time. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he returns to New Orleans several times a year and has worked as a bartender at R Bar in the past.
Jeffrey said he had a run-in with LaBeouf earlier in the day.
He described the first encounter as rough. LaBeouf hit him, knocked him into some boxes, and then shouted, "Don’t you fucking push me. I’ll kill you." Jeffrey said he didn’t touch LaBeouf and tried to calm the situation down, but LaBeouf escalated it, putting his finger in Jeffrey’s face and calling him a homophobic slur.
Jeffrey said LaBeouf threatened to "kick my ass" and called him a faggot.
He told LaBeouf he wouldn’t fight back.
LaBeouf was in and out of the bar all evening and seemed very drunk.
When he came back around midnight, the situation became more intense.
Jeffrey said LaBeouf was yelling at a bartender and had to be taken outside.
Once outside, LaBeouf started pacing in the street, shouting, "You’re all a bunch of fucking faggots. I'll kick your ass." Jeffrey briefly stopped LaBeouf when he lunged at a staff member.
He said he held LaBeouf for less than a minute to prevent him from hurting the bartender.
The bartender told him to let go, so he did.
Soon after, LaBeouf allegedly punched a second bartender in the face, breaking his nose.
Video clips from outside the bar show LaBeouf being held back as he keeps shouting.
Jeffrey said LaBeouf didn’t stop shouting offensive words and trying to fight people.
That’s why he believes it wasn’t just a bar fight—it was about hate.
The police had to be called to help calm the scene.
They took statements from Jeffrey and at least one R Bar bartender. LaBeouf was taken from the scene and later released on his own recognizance, according to court records. New videos showed LaBeouf dancing on Bourbon Street after his release, holding his jail release paperwork in his mouth.
Jeffrey was surprised by how fast LaBeouf was released.
"In decades of coming to Mardi Gras, I’ve always understood that if you go to jail during Mardi Gras, you’re not getting out until after Ash Wednesday," he said.
"The only thing I’m surprised about is that anybody else would have been in jail."
He added that the quick release sends a bad message about accountability during one of the city's busiest times.
Jeffrey said the offensive words and threats are what stuck with him the most.
"Anytime somebody insists on calling me a 'faggot' and threatening to hurt me because of it— that’s not something you ever get used to," he said.
"I’ve worked in bars for years. I’ve seen fights. But when someone is screaming that word over and over while trying to attack people, that’s different."
He also worried about professional consequences, noting that both he and LaBeouf work in the entertainment industry.
"I would not feel safe running into him on a set," he said.
"If he could make a call and get out of jail before anybody else, what’s stopping him from making a call about my career?"
LaBeouf recently claimed to be sober and blamed his past abusive behavior, some of which led to a lawsuit over mental and physical abuse from his ex, musician FKA Twigs.
Before his arrest in New Orleans on Tuesday, he went on an extended bar crawl during Mardi Gras in the Uptown neighborhood, according to employees of various drinking establishments.
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