Honey Boy Director Speaks Out Against Shia LaBeouf - Troubled Childhood Or No!

After what FKA Twigs revealed about the pain she suffered during her relationship with Shia LaBeouf, it’s hard to believe anyone could still be on his side.

However, we’ve been frankly more than a little disappointed to see many fans of the troubled Transformers star rushing to his corner. Considering Shia’s immediate response to being accused of abusing and controlling women was to bring up his PTSD, we guess we shouldn’t be so surprised if others are also treating him like he’s the victim in all this.

You know who isn’t? The person who directed his story of childhood mistreatment, Honey Boy.

For those who don’t know, Shia wrote Honey Boy while in court-ordered rehab as a semi-autobiographical account of his life as a childhood actor, including emotional abuse by his father — a role he played, and how those early years led him down the self-destructive path he was on. (It was also the film where Shia and FKA first met as co-stars.)

The film’s director, Alma Har’el, has been a huge supporter of Shia — but she’s making clear that support does NOT include excusing what he’s done to women.

In a statement to Variety on Thursday, she began by throwing her full support behind FKA and Karolyn Pho:

“I have a deep respect for FKA Twigs’ courage and resilience. Reading what she endured left me heartbroken and I stand with her in solidarity. I’m sending my love to her, Karolyn Pho, all victims of domestic violence, and everyone who is trying to stop cycles of abuse.”

She then addressed her past support for Shia, making clear that she would not be complicit in a rehabilitation of his image in light of these new revelations:

“As a filmmaker and an artist, I am drawn to stories that help us develop empathy for the messy parts of the human condition. Like many of Shia’s collaborators and fans who battled substance abuse, suffered childhood trauma, and face mental illness, I am painfully aware of my past investment in his recovery. I want to send a clear message today that none of the above should excuse, minimize, or rationalize domestic violence.”

She also made clear her support is still there for all those fans who need it:

“I’m grateful that survivors of childhood trauma have seen some aspects of themselves in Honey Boy and might feel less alone in their pain. I hope that they don’t take these events as a discouraging moment in their own recovery.”

Finally she stated where her support would be going in this matter:

“I will be donating in Twigs’ and Karolyn Pho’s names to FreeFrom, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and Sistah Space. I support and encourage victims in similar situations to speak up and seek help so they can create a path to safety and the healthy relationship they deserve.”

Interestingly, Alma was not the only director to speak out against Shia on Thursday. His former collaborator Sia also spoke out again.

The Chandelier singer, who had put LaBeouf in her Elastic Heart music video alongside Maddie Ziegler, previously revealed the actor had claimed to be single and “conned” her into entering “an adulterous relationship” with him. This, we presume, would have been while he was still married to Mia Goth.

Well, on Thursday she added another inneresting wrinkle; in an interview with Studio 10, the 44-year-old revealed she had actually previously cast Shia in her debut feature film Music — but ultimately replaced him with Kate Hudson! That is definitely going in a different direction… She said:

“I was going to do a narrative film, and in fact, Shia LaBeouf was cast to play Kate’s character.”

The How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days actress is now playing the character of Zu, the half-sister of Maddie Ziegler’s titular character. Zu is a drug-dealer who takes in the autistic Music after her grandmother dies — and it initially would have been a reteaming with Shia had there not been… unpleasantness. But she found Hudson, who did not lie to get her into bed (so far as we know), and never looked back:

“I asked for a meeting with her, and she said she was born to do it. She could sing, she could dance, she could do it all. I liked the tone of her voice. I said, ‘Would you shave your head?’ and she said yes, and Bob’s your uncle.”

We can’t help but wonder what other stories will come out about Shia in the coming weeks — and what other directors will choose to recast his parts. Probably not a lot will switch him out with Kate Hudson we imagine.