Shia LaBeouf was spotted on Bourbon Street in New Orleans following his arrest and subsequent release in connection with an alleged physical altercation.
In footage shared by regional outlet WGNO-TV on Wednesday (Feb. 18), the Henry Johnson actor, who in the mid- to late-2010s worked on a series of performance art projects with Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner, was seen dancing for the camera with a stack of papers gripped between his teeth. In their report, WGNO speculated that these papers were likely related to his arrest on Tuesday (Feb. 17), though it’s hard to make out their contents from the video.
Meanwhile, WAFB, another local outlet, shared their own post-release video of LaBeouf. In it, he’s asked by reporter Liam Combs about the Mardi Gras festivities, calling them “amazing” and highlighting “the people” as the best quality. LaBeouf also said he’s met “a lot” of interesting folks, though he opted to bring the brief interview to a close with that question.
“Alright, we’re good, yeah?” he said, calmly placing a hand over the mic. “Alright, bet. God bless you, bro.”
Early Wednesday, LaBeouf shared a brief message to X, marking his first public comments since this week’s arrest.
“Free me,” he wrote, declining to elaborate further.
LaBeouf, who has spoken publicly about his sobriety struggles in the past, was arrested amid Mardi Gras celebrations this week. He was charged with two counts of simple battery in connection with an incident a New Orleans Police Department rep said began with officers responding to a call in the 1400 block of Royal Street just before 1:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
“A staff member attempted to eject Mr. LaBeouf from the establishment,” a police rep told Complex. “Once removed from the building, the victim reported being struck by LaBeouf who used his closed fists on the victim several times. The victims reported that LaBeouf left, but then came back, acting even more aggressive.”
From there, per the police rep, “multiple people” tried to hold the actor down, though he later allegedly “struck the same victim” again and also “reportedly assaulted another person” by punching them in the nose.
Wednesday’s “Free me” post on X aside, LaBeouf has not spoken publicly about the arrest as of this writing.
The Honey Boy writer and star made headlines for similar incidents earlier in his career.
In 2020, he was accused of abuse in a lawsuit filed by FKA twigs. However, the suit was settled last year, with both parties quoted in a joint statement as saying they wished “personal happiness, professional success, and peace in the future” for each other.