Feb 17, 2026
3 min read
An actor who caused chaos in bars by punching two men has been charged with two counts of murder.
Actor Shia LaBeouf was arrested early Tuesday on an alleged assault charge in New Orleans after he reportedly partied around town over the Mardi Gras long weekend.
The New Orleans Police Department confirmed that police were called at around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday to Faubourg Marigny, which is near the French Quarter, at the heart of the incident, where LaBeouf is said to be staying strong at the Royal Street Hotel and Bar.
Court documents say the bar manager tried to push LaBeouf out of the bar, and the actor tried to punch him.Then, after being kicked out, the actor allegedly punched a male patron who was helping the bar manager, then returned and punched a second man in the nose.
Bystanders held LaBeouf until the police arrived and he was taken to the hospital.He was later taken down, arrested and charged with two counts of simple battery.
He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon, just as weeks of annual New Orleans Carnival celebrations reach their peak.
Thousands of people, most of them dressed in different styles. Gathered inside and outside the Royal Street Inn and Bar later Tuesday, bartenders and bouncers at the establishment said LaBeouf was not welcome back after he was released from prison.
Popular gossip site TMZ released a video of LaBeouf taken Tuesday morning without a shirt and exchanging words with another man.
Reports of LaBeouf's erratic behavior in New Orleans have been circulating for days.Ms Mays, the doorman of a local bar, Robert Skuse, told The Hollywood Reporter that the actor appeared in a "violent situation".
In the middle of the chaos, he made a 'Do you know who I am?'" Skuse said.
LaBeouf was reportedly asked to leave when he tried to go behind the bar and serve drinks to patrons.
LaBeouf has previously discussed his struggles with sobriety, crediting co-stars Mel Gibson, Sean Penn and Josh Brolin for help.He attended court-ordered rehab after his arrest in Savannah, Georgia in 2017, an experience that inspired his semi-autobiographical film Honey Boy.
In 2020, FKA twigs, an English singer whose real name is Tahliah Barnett, sued LaBeouf for sexual harassment, assault and infliction of emotional distress, alleging a "relentless" pattern of abuse.
In the lawsuit and in an interview given by the New York Times, Barnett said that LaBeouf, who dated from 2018 to 2019 after she met on the program 'Honey Boy', knowing that she had exposed a sexually transmitted infection, tried to strangle her and hit her with a car.LaBeouf has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.The two reached an agreement in July 2025.
LaBeouf's representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment
