FKA twigs gets backing in new Shia LaBeouf lawsuit as his argument is branded ‘nonsensical’

FKA twigs has received backing in her legal battle with Shia LaBeouf from the former State Senate who wrote the law at the centre of their latest dispute and said the actor’s interpretation “defies common sense.”

The new case centres on the nondisclosure agreement included in the pair’s 2025 settlement. Following this, LaBeouf accused FKA twigs of breaking their agreement after she told The Hollywood Reporter that she still doesn’t “feel safe”.

Although these proceedings were later dropped, the singer – real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett – filed a new legal complaint of her own in March 2026, accusing the actor of trying to silence her. 

She is asking the court to stop LaBeouf from enforcing parts of the NDA, arguing they violate California’s STAND Act, which was designed to stop NDAs from preventing people speaking about alleged sexual assault, harassment and discrimination in cases that don’t result in felony verdicts. 

LaBeouf, however, argues the law doesn’t apply because twigs’ original lawsuit alleged sexual battery rather than sexual assault. This is the interpretation that politician Connie Leyva – who wrote the legislation – has now publicly rejected.

FKA twigs gets backing in Shia LaBeouf NDA lawsuit

In a court declaration filed on Wednesday, July 8th, Leyva said (via THR): “Contrary to Mr. LaBeouf’s apparent position, the California Legislature did not intend and did not carve out an exception designed to protect sexual batterers (as opposed to sexual assaulters) or conclude that sexual batterers (but not sexual assaulters) should be free to silence their victims with secret NDAs.”

She went on to say his interpretation “defies common sense.” FKA twigs’ lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, also argued that the NDA is void in this case. 

“We filed the lawsuit in response to Mr. LaBeouf’s attempt to bully and intimidate FKA twigs through a frivolous arbitration he filed against her last December, seeking to extract money from her,” he said. 

“Astonishingly, he claimed he is immune from California’s STAND Act because, in his view, it applies only to sexual assaulters but not sexual batterers. But now we have gone to the source: the author of the legislation.”

The case is ongoing.

How did FKA twigs and Shia LaBeouf’s legal battle begin?

LaBeouf and FKA twigs originally dated for around nine months in 2018 after meeting on the set of the film Honey Boy, before parting ways the following year. 

In December 2020, FKA twigs filed a lawsuit accusing the actor of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. She alleged that throughout their relationship he subjected her to abusive behaviour and knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease.

She said she hoped the lawsuit would help others understand “the tactics that abusers use to control you.”

LaBeouf denied many of the allegations at the time, but said in a statement that he had “no excuses” for his struggles with alcoholism and aggression.

The case was originally due to go to trial before the pair reached an out-of-court settlement in July 2025. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed publicly, but it included the NDA that is now at the centre of their latest dispute.

Separately, LaBeouf has also faced unrelated legal issues since the settlement. In June, he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a violent altercation during a Mardi Gras bar crawl in New Orleans.

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