Shia LaBeouf Packs on the PDA With Margaret Qualley Amid FKA twigs Lawsuit

Shia LaBeouf was spotted getting cozy with Margaret Qualley at LAX over the weekend. News of their romance comes a week after FKA twigs filed a lawsuit against the actor.

By Alyssa Morin Dec 21, 2020 12:28 AMTags
Watch: Inside Shia LaBeouf's Controversial History

Shia LaBeouf was spotted locking lips and cozying up to Margaret Qualley over the weekend.

On Saturday, Dec. 19, photographers captured the duo packing on the PDA as they reunited at the Los Angeles airport. In one set of images, which were first published by The Daily Mail, the 26-year-old actress could be seen lifting up her leg and wrapping it around Shia's as they passionately kissed.

According to the outlet, the two are dating. However, at this time, both Shia and Margaret have yet to publicly comment on the status of their relationship. And while it's unclear when the pair started seeing each other, they were featured in a NSFW music video two months ago.

Back in October, the duo appeared in the "Love Me Like You Hate Me" music video, which was a song released by Margaret's sister, Rainey Qualley, whose stage name is Rainsford.

In the visual project, Margaret and Shia played a couple who go through an intense and emotional relationship. Rainey explained her piercing video on Instagram, writing, "It's filled with love and pain and tenderness and rage and real pieces of my heart."

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Shia's new romance comes a little over a week after his former girlfriend FKA twigs accused him of "relentless abuse" in a lawsuit she filed on Dec. 10 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

According to the lawsuit, which was obtained by E! News, the songstress first met Shia in 2018 when she was cast in the film, Honey Boy. FKA twigs alleged that their relationship began after the movie finished. 

She claimed the early days of their romance was full of "over-the-top displays of affection," however, things started to change.

FKA twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, reported that Shia later became abusive and inflicted emotional distress. In the lawsuit, she accused the actor of setting rules about how many times a day she had to kiss and touch him. 

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"The whole time I was with him, I could have bought myself a business-flight plane ticket back to my four-story townhouse in Hackney," the actress told The New York Times in a separate interview that was published on Dec. 11. "He brought me so low, below myself, that the idea of leaving him and having to work myself back up just seemed impossible."

"What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I've ever been through in the whole of my life," she continued. "I don't think people would ever think that it would happen to me. But I think that's the thing. It can happen to anybody."

FKA twigs' attorney also shared a statement with E! News about her lawsuit. 

"We tried to resolve this matter privately on the condition that Mr. LaBeouf agrees to receive meaningful and consistent psychological treatment," the statement read. "Since he was unwilling to agree to get appropriate help, Ms. Barnett filed this suit to prevent others from unknowingly suffering similar abuse by him."

The singer took to Instagram after her interview was published and opened up even more about her situation.

"it may be surprising to you to learn that i was in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship," she began her message. "it was hard for me to process too, during and after i never thought something like this would happen to me. which is why i have decided it's important for me to talk about it and try to help people understand that when you are under the coercive control of an abuser or in an interpersonal violent relationship leaving doesn't feel like a safe or achievable option."

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Following the allegations made against him, Shia issued a statement to The New York Times via email, in which he declared he is part of a 12-step program and focused on his sobriety.

"Although many of these allegations are not true. I am not in the position to defend any of my actions," he told the publication. "I owe these women the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those thing I have done. As someone in recovery, I have to face almost daily reminders of things I did say and do when I was drinking."

"It has always been easy for me to accept responsibility when my behavior reflects poorly on myself, but it's much harder to accept the knowledge that I may have caused great pain to others," he shared. "I can't rewrite history. I can only accept it and work to be better in the future."

He closed, "I am not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to doing what I need to do to recover, and I will forever be sorry to the people that I may have harmed along the way."