FKA Twigs says ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf wouldn't let her 'look men in the eye' while they were together
- FKA Twigs spoke about her allegedly abusive relationship with her ex Shia LaBeouf.
- The artist said on BBC Radio 4's "Grounded" that LaBeouf forbade her from making eye contact with men.
- "I was told that I knew what he was like and if I loved him I wouldn't look men in the eye," Twigs said.
FKA Twigs is revealing even more of the alleged abuse she experienced at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf, claiming Monday that she wasn't allowed to make eye-contact with other men while in a relationship with the actor.
This detail comes after the 33-year-old British artist, born Tahliah Debrett Barnett, filed a lawsuit against LaBeouf last month, claiming extensive emotional and physical abuse. She's since spoken out about the nature of their nine-month relationship, which ended in June 2019.
In a new interview with Louis Theroux on BBC Radio 4's podcast "Grounded," Twigs said that her relationship with LaBeouf began with an "intense honeymoon period" in 2018 after appearing together in the film "Honey Boy."
However, she said the actor began to act "jealous" and "controlling," even setting strict rules for her behavior.
"For me, it was being nice to a waiter or being polite to somebody that could be seen as me flirting ... when I'm literally just ordering pasta and being polite. I was told that I knew what he was like and if I loved him I wouldn't look men in the eye," she said.
The singer said she began "looking down all the time" and "started to isolate" herself from friends and family.
The musician said that the "Peanut Butter Falcon" actor also instated a "quota" for daily "touches or looks or kisses" from Twigs. Twigs claimed that the number was "essentially around 20 a day," but "would change."
"His previous partner apparently met this number very well, so I was inadequate compared to a previous partner of his," she explained.
If Twigs didn't meet the quota, she claimed LaBeouf would "berate" her for hours and make her feel like the "worst person ever."
The "Cellophane" singer also alleged that her ex grew paranoid.
Read more: 4 subtle signs a relationship is abusive, from love-bombing to controlling your social circle
"He would wake me up in the night to accuse me of all sorts of things. Accuse me of staring at the ceiling and thinking about ways to leave him, accuse me of masturbating, accuse me of not wanting to be with him, accusing me of wanting to be with somebody else - but it would be, always, I'd say between like 4 and 7 in the morning," she said.
Twigs recalled feeling like it was "impossible to leave" LaBeouf, but decided to seek help after an incident described in the lawsuit. After the couple was driving home together from the desert, Twigs said that LaBeouf was "threatening to crash the car" unless she told him she loved him and later he allegedly strangled her in public at a gas station.
Read more: Hollywood has fed Shia LaBeouf's long and violent history of abuse, experts say
The singer said she felt like "no one is going to believe" her since bystanders didn't intervene, but she ultimately decided to call a help line for abused women. It was a "massive wakeup call" to have someone take her abuse allegations "so seriously," Twigs said.
Representatives for LaBeouf did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about these latest details.
"I'm not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel," he added via email.
LaBeouf continued, "I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. 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."
Twigs eventually confided in her best friend and began therapy twice a week, leaving LaBeouf permanently months later.
After the couple broke up, Twigs returned to her home in London. She said that waking up in the middle night triggered a "really intense panic attack" for a "long time," also sharing that she had post traumatic stress disorder.
Amid the abuse accusations, Netflix has removed all mention of LaBeouf from promotional material for its film "Pieces of a Woman," in which he stars alongside Vanessa Kirby. (Although a source close to the movie said the film's campaign was not set to feature LaBeouf in the first place.)
After news of Twigs' lawsuit broke, Sia also tweeted that she, too, had been burned by LaBeouf, alleging that he "conned" her into a relationship after lying about his relationship status.