Shia LaBeouf is now formally facing criminal charges three months after being arrested in New Orleans during Mardi Gras weekend.
On Thursday (May 21), the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office filed three counts of simple battery against the actor, according to The Guardian. The counts are all misdemeanors under Louisiana law, meaning LaBeouf faces lesser criminal exposure than he would under felony charges.
Prosecutors opted not to pursue hate-crime charges against the Transformers actor, despite claims and video evidence that he used anti-gay slurs against the alleged victims.
The incident occurred around 12:45 a.m. on February 17, when NOPD officers were dispatched to R Bar on Royal Street after staff reported LaBeouf had turned combative. He had reportedly been partying in the city throughout the weekend.
When the bar manager tried to remove him, LaBeouf allegedly refused to leave and grew more aggressive, requiring several bystanders to physically hold him until police arrived. Video from the scene showed him using gay slurs before head-butting one of the men involved. One patron ended up with a potentially dislocated nose, despite having told LaBeouf he had no interest in fighting.
LaBeouf was initially taken into custody that night on two misdemeanor battery counts and released on his own recognizance. Once allegations about the anti-gay slurs emerged, a judge required him to post a $100,000 bond, with an additional $5,000 bond attached to the second charge. As a condition of his release, he was ordered to undergo regular drug and alcohol testing and enter rehab.
In March, LaBeouf spoke about the Mardi Gras Incident in an interview with YouTuber Andrew Callaghan.
"There's two, three people I hurt, I'm gonna deal with that," he said. "God bless you guys, that's my fault, I'm gonna deal with you, that’s on me. But that's three. The amount of interactions I've had in Mardi Gras, bro, I must have met 20,000 people. 20,000 good interactions and three bad interactions. I'm gonna sign up for it still. It's like playing blackjack at a casino."
When asked if his arrests were a wake-up call to him, LaBeouf explained that they weren’t because he didn’t see the incident as a fight.
"Nah, because it wasn't a… Bro, I'm not a fighter, bro. These people are clout chasers," he said. "Who gives a fuck, though? It's another experience. Jail'll be another adventure. What are you going to do? That's cool. … Who gives a fuck? I'm with God, bro. I just move with God. God's going to move me around."
In March, LaBeouf reportedly got into another altercation in New Orleans.
According to TMZ, the troubled actor was photographed shirtless inside the Le Bon Temps Roule bar on March 23. Bystanders claim he took off his shirt during a fight outside the bar and later returned.
Sources said that multiple men appeared in a golf cart to confront LaBeouf. It’s unclear what happened during the fight, but the men who confronted him were allegedly upset over something he said or did.
