New Orleans prosecutors filed formal misdemeanor battery charges against Shia LaBeouf on Thursday, four months after police said he struck three men at a Mardi Gras bar in the Marigny neighborhood. The filing came in a bill of information from District Attorney Jason Williams’ office, and an arraignment date was not immediately available.
Police said LaBeouf was arrested after an encounter at the R Bar about 12.45am on 17 February, when bar staff asked him to leave after he became increasingly aggressive. In sworn statements filed in court, officers said he punched two men and headbutted a third, then insulted them with homophobic slurs. He was taken to a hospital, briefly jailed after being discharged and later released on a $105,000 bond. A judge also ordered him to enroll in substance abuse treatment.
The case now moves from arrest to prosecution, and the charges give Williams’ office a chance to test the allegations in court rather than leave them tied to police accounts alone. Jeffrey Damnit, one of the men involved, captured cellphone video of LaBeouf outside the bar directing the slur “faggot” at him, while Nathan Thomas Reed, who identifies as queer, was among the people police said were struck in the confrontation.
Prosecutors did not pursue hate-crime charges, despite the video and the accusations of anti-gay language. That choice leaves the case centered on battery, not bias, even as the record filed Thursday includes claims that LaBeouf used homophobic insults during the altercation. The arrest happened 11 days before he sat for an interview published by Channel 5 in which he said “big gay people are scary” to him because of his “traditional Catholic” faith, and also said, “three gay dudes [were] next to me, touching my leg,” that he “got scared,” and that, “if that’s homophobic, then I’m that.”
Michael Kennedy, who is representing one of the alleged victims, said the filing was no surprise. “The fact that the district attorney’s office is moving forward with this case when there is overwhelming evidence that a crime was committed should not be a surprise to anyone – because being a celebrity does not buy you special treatment in New Orleans,” he said. LaBeouf had bought a home in New Orleans in December, tying the actor more closely to the city where the fight broke out on Mardi Gras and where prosecutors are now pressing ahead.
What happens next is straightforward: LaBeouf must answer the misdemeanor charges, and the court will eventually set a date for him to do it. For now, the record says the state believes there is enough to move forward, but not enough to charge him with a hate crime.
