Shia LaBeouf has been arrested and charged with battery after allegedly assaulting two men during Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, according to police.
It’s alleged that the Transformers star punched one victim several times, and the actor then reportedly punched a second man on the nose.
The actor was arrested and has been charged with “two counts of simple battery”.
The New Orleans Police Department said in a statement that they were called at 12:45am on Tuesday (February 17) after a member of staff at a business on Royal Street, in the city’s French Quarter, reported that he had been punched.
“A man identified as 39-year-old Shia LaBeouf was reportedly causing a disturbance and becoming increasing[ly] aggressive at a Royal Street business,” the statement read (via Sky News). “Once removed from the building, the victim reported being struck by LaBeouf who used his closed fists on the victim several times.”
Officers then claimed that LaBeouf left, before he “came back, acting even more aggressive” and reportedly punched the same victim again before assaulting another man by “punching him in the nose”. They added that he was restrained until police arrived and then taken to hospital for the “treatment of unknown injuries” before being released and then charged. At the time of writing, representatives for LaBeouf had not responded to requests for comment from NBC News, Sky News’ US partner.
— Shia LaBeouf (@thecampaignbook) February 15, 2026
The news comes after a report from The Hollywood Reporter yesterday in which the outlet described the former child actor as being “on an extended-weekend bar crawl in the city’s Uptown neighbourhood since Thursday (February 12)”.
Robert Skuse, a doorman at the New Orleans bar Ms Mae’s, described the actor as “inebriated” and “somewhat belligerent” during a visit on Sunday (February 15), with the article claiming he arrived at the bar without a shirt or cash. A patron claimed to have witnessed the actor during a visit to live jazz club Dos Jefes, telling the reporter: “He was louder than everyone and was giving acting instructions to a girl at the bar.”
A bar employee who wished to remain anonymous told the publication at the time: “He is terrorising the city!”
On February 15, LaBeouf posted an image of himself on X (Twitter) wearing Mardi Gras beads.
LaBeouf, who rose to fame on the Disney Channel series Even Stevens as a teenager, has most recently appeared in the 2025 films Henry Johnson and Salvable, as well as appearing in the documentary Slauson Rec, which explores the free experimental acting collective he founded in 2018.
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