Why Shia LaBeouf Says Depiction of His Dad in Honey Boy Was "F--king Nonsense"

Shia LaBeouf admitted to lying about his father, Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf, being abusive in the 2019 drama Honey Boy. See what the actor had to say below.

By Tamantha Gunn Sep 02, 2022 2:05 AMTags
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Shia LaBeouf is admitting all of his wrongs on the road to redemption.

The Tax Collector actor, 36, recently confessed to misrepresenting his father, Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf, as abusive in the 2019 drama Honey Boy, which Shia wrote and previously said was an autobiographical tale inspired by his uneasy relationship with his dad as a child actor.

"I wrote this narrative which was just f--king nonsense," Shia admitted during the Aug. 31 episode of Jon Bernthal's Real Ones podcast. "My dad was so loving to me my whole life. Fractures? Sure. Crooked? Sure. Wonky? For sure, but never was not loving, never was not there. He was always there."

Shia said he did a "world press tour about how f--ked" his father was as a man however, he acknowledged that he "wronged him."

In Honey Boy, Shai stars as James Lort, a former clown, former alcoholic and a convicted sex offender who became envious of his son's success as an actor.

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Shia LaBeouf: Movie Star!

The Alma Har'el-directed film also stars Lucas HedgesNoah Jupe and Shia's ex, FKA twigs, who sued the Holes actor for sexual battery in 2020. (Shia denied the allegations in a 2021 legal filing, however, the case will go to trial in April 2023.)

Shia noted that his father questioned him about the inaccuracies in the project, saying that the plot of the film did not match what was in the script his father was sent.

"I remember getting on the phone with him and him being like, 'You know, I never read this stuff in the script you sent,'" Shia recalled on Real Ones. "Because I didn't put that s--t in there," he shared. "I was bulls--tting him. I was just trying to get him to sign this piece of paper."

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The Emmy winner disclosed that he "turned the knob up on certain s--t that wasn't real" within the film's storyline. "My dad never hit me. Never. He spanked me once. One time," Shia noted. "And the story that gets painted in Honey Boy is like, this dude was abusing his kid all the time."

The Fury actor added, "But that wasn't my narrative because it didn't position me as this wounded, fractured child that you could root for, which is what I was using him for."

Despite inaccurately portraying Jeffrey as abusive, the 74-year-old spoke about the film the year it was released, saying that several parts of the movie were inaccurate. 

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"I never hit Shia in the face," he said in an interview with Gen in Nov. 2019. "I did threaten him one time. In terms of being physical with him, when he was a baby or young boy, and he wanted to have a tantrum and scream and holler and cry, I would pick him up by one foot upside down, and he would totally change. His demeanor would go to wonder and awe. And there was no need to spank him."

Shia has since made amends with his father by taking accountability for the "certain narrative" that he would have to publicly live with for the rest of his life.

Shia said that after reuniting with his father in 2021, he helped his father with his battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and with his sobriety journey, calling it "probably the crowning achievement of any amends I've made." 

E! News has reached out to Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf for comment and hasn't heard back.

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