Shia LaBeouf gets probation after pleading guilty to punching bargoers
during Mardi Gras
[June 04, 2026]
By JACK BROOK
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Actor Shia LaBeouf was sentenced to probation
Wednesday after pleading guilty to punching three people outside a New
Orleans bar during Mardi Gras.
LaBeouf must attend an alcohol treatment program under the sentence
handed down by an Orleans Parish judge, according to Sarah Chervinsky,
an attorney for the actor.
LeBeouf, most widely known for his starring roles in 2007’s
“Transformers” and in 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull,” had
been released on bail following his arrest near the city's historic
French Quarter. Video of the Feb. 17 encounter shows a shirtless LaBeouf
outside a bar shoving one person to the ground and hitting another
person in the face, “causing his nose to possibly dislocate,” according
to a New Orleans police report. Police said LaBeouf repeatedly used
homophobic slurs, including while he was arrested.
LeBeouf pleaded guilty to three counts of simple battery. Orleans Parish
Judge Juana Marine-Lombard handed the actor a six month suspended
sentence and two years of probation. LaBeouf also must stay away from
the victims and the bar.
Chervinsky said LaBeouf wanted “to take accountability for his part in
what happened" and called it a “minor Mardi Gras bar tussle.” Chervinsky
said there was “no evidence it was about bias or prejudice.”
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said in a statement that
his office consulted with the victims to ensure their support before
offering LaBeouf the plea deal.
Jeffrey Damnit, a local entertainer whom police identified as Jeffrey
Klein, said he was one of the people attacked by LaBeouf. He has said
LaBeouf had pushed him from behind at the bar earlier in the night,
shouting homophobic slurs and threatening his life.
Damnit's attorney said his client hopes LaBeouf's behavior improves
after the actor undergoes substance abuse treatment.
"In New Orleans we are all equal, we should all feel safe, and we don’t
treat people different based upon relative fame,” attorney Michael
Kennedy said.
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Shia LaBeouf poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of
the film 'The Phoenician Scheme' at the 78th international film
festival, Cannes, southern France, May 18, 2025. (Photo by Lewis
Joly/Invision/AP, File)
 After LaBeouf was charged in
February, a judge ordered him to return to drug and alcohol
rehabilitation.
Days later, LaBeouf denied having a “drinking problem” in an
interview with journalist and YouTuber Andrew Callaghan. LaBeouf
said he doubted rehab would help him. He told Callaghan that the
issues leading led to his aggressive behavior during Mardi Gras were
more rooted in “anger and ego” than alcohol.
LaBeouf also said that “big gay people are scary to me.”
“When I’m standing by myself and three gay dudes are next to me
touching my leg, I get scared,” he told Callaghan. “I’m sorry. If
that’s homophobic, then I’m that.”
LaBeouf, who converted to Catholicism a few years ago, has had
several run-ins with the law during his career, including a 2017 New
York City arrest on suspicion of assault that happened during a
livestream.
While on location in Georgia filming “The Peanut Butter Falcon”
later that year, he was arrested for public drunkenness and accused
of disorderly conduct and obstruction and sentenced to probation.
In 2020, he was charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft in
Los Angeles.
That year, the English singer and actor FKA Twigs, whose legal name
is Tahliah Barnett, also filed a lawsuit alleging LaBeouf was
physically and emotionally abusive to her during their relationship,
which they settled in July.
The actor first gained acclaim as a child for his role on the Disney
Channel series “Even Stevens.”
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