Shia LaBeouf And The Kingdom Of The Royally Screwed
Posted by Seth at 5:00 AM on July 29, 2008
The signs, as they say, were there. A rough-and-tumble kid from the hard streets of Echo Parque, Shia LaBeouf traded in tubesteak and greasepaint as a child, raised by hot-dog-vending clown parents. (A profession, if the lessons of Momzo are to teach us anything, which can frequently lead to movie star delinquency.) It would not be long before his magnetic screen presence and deft improvisational skills would catch the eye of a Hollywood in a desperate search for its next everyman superstar. But while he seemed up to the tasks of blockbuster movie-making—whether sexing a hyperdeveloped co-star on the hood of an anthropomorphic Camaro, or getting thwacked in the balls by jungle vegetation—it was off-screen that LaBeouf began developing a reputation for recalcitrance. Shia, they whispered, was capital-t trouble.
There was an arrest at a Chicago area pharmacy—for, as he tells it, disturbing the Walgreen's peace on an alcohol-fuelled cigarette and Clearasil run. There was an unlawful smoking citation in Burbank, and a bench warrant issued when he failed to appear in court. And there was that leaked video of a Five-Fingered Mexican Roulette session, in which the adolescent superstar taunted his slap-fight sparring partner with a gay slur.
Of course, that was was all just the overture for what was to come. Sunday morning at 2:30 a.m., LaBeouf made a left turn at the corner of LaBrea and Fountain. It was a seemingly simple driving manoeuvre made less so by three crucial factors: 1. The oncoming car didn't break in time. 2. He was drunk. 3. Michael Bay didn't shout, "Cut! Print! OK, let's move on to the Soundwave breakdancing sequence. Hustle, people—we're losing daylight!" through a bullhorn at the end of it. From the LAT:
The actor's Ford F-150 pickup truck rolled over in the crash.
LaBeouf injured his left hand and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre for surgery, according to Sgt. Kristin Aloma of the sheriff's West Hollywood station. LaBeouf's passenger and the other driver, both women, were treated for minor injuries and released.
LaBeouf, 22, "was exhibiting obvious signs of intoxication," Aloma said. He was cited for misdemeanor drunken driving instead of felony drunken driving because the injuries suffered by the others were minor, she explained.
Approached for comment, a LaBeouf spokesperson issued this statement: "Attorneys for Mr. LaBeouf confirm that an automobile accident involving an additional party occurred early morning in Los Angeles on July 27, 2008. Shia is currently recovering from extensive hand surgery with plans to return to work on the set of Transformers 2 within one month. No further comment will be issued at this time." The word "extensive" there concerns us, as anyone who has witnessed the actor's deft stiletto-twirling skills—or seen him opening a Heineken bottle using only a thumb and Zippo lighter, or even caught him smacking the shit out of one of his closest drinking buddies—knows that LaBeouf is a highly dexterous actor who requires full use of his hands. Developing...

The signs, as they say, were there. A rough-and-tumble kid from the hard streets of Echo Parque, Shia LaBeouf traded in tubesteak and greasepaint as a child, raised by
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Losin_it
Posted 9:35 AM 29/7/08
@TryThisAtHome: Good for you. And your kids are lucky to have you.
Losin_it
TryThisAtHome
Posted 9:16 AM 29/7/08
@Losin_it: Actually, my answer is never. Not worth it. And my kids need me more than I need a buzz.
TryThisAtHome
Losin_it
Posted 8:49 AM 29/7/08
@Benny: DUI is bad, obviously, but how many people out there haven't at least once (or ten times) driven home from a club or a bar or a party with a little too much booze sloshing around in there? It doesn't justify it, really, but it makes it hard to take an absolutist stand on the issue for many of us.
Losin_it
encinoman
Posted 8:47 AM 29/7/08
WGARefugee: Built Ford tough. (Insert Harrison joke here).
encinoman
jasonelias
Posted 8:42 AM 29/7/08
After his truck tipped over, it became engulfed in flames. Mission Failed!
jasonelias
Benny
Posted 8:22 AM 29/7/08
If he comes out and does a 'cute' interview where he tries to charm his way out of this I'll be majorly pissed.
Drunk driving is for ignorant shitheaded mouth-breathers. Drunk in a Wallgreens you get a pass, even with the totally practiced Letterman interview. Drunk in a car = beg for forgiveness on your hands and knees.
Indy IV was bad enough. Two strikes.
Benny
Baronzemo
Posted 8:22 AM 29/7/08
Seth, in my imagination Michael Bay uses the phrase, "we're losing daylight!", during night shoots as well.
heidiho, isn't that intersection a photo light? Might WeHo Sheriffs have some kewl photos, then? I refer to Fountain Ave as "Bette Davis Street" after her old gag; Johnny Carson asked Bette Davis for advice on "the best way an aspiring starlet could get into Hollywood," Ms. Davis replied without hesitation, "Take Fountain!"
aspiringexpatriate, I thought Transformers was a big-fat GM tie-in...what's with the F-series? Unless he's goin' for a Michael Clark Duncan sized carbon footprint...
Baronzemo
WGARefugee
Posted 8:19 AM 29/7/08
Why isn't anyone talking about the fact that his truck continued to run upside down? I'm going right down to my Ford dealer and trading in my Toyota for the LaBeouf F150 with "invertidrive."
WGARefugee
Desk_hack
Posted 8:02 AM 29/7/08
Next up: drugs, THEN rehab. This kid's on schedule like a train.
Desk_hack
Bear_Necessities
Posted 7:54 AM 29/7/08
I don't think Shia has a drinking problem.
I think his problem is stopping.
Bear_Necessities
kookla
Posted 7:30 AM 29/7/08
@Juancho: Not as bad as when I backed into a pole and did $3K worth of damage myself.
I was Lohaning with my Brohans, what of it?
kookla
Juancho
Posted 6:52 AM 29/7/08
@Little Mintz Sunshine: Tell me about it. I had over $3k in damage done to my trunk and back bumper by this a-hole last month. Being out $500 for my deductible was bad enough.
Juancho
Breadbowl
Posted 6:49 AM 29/7/08
**YAWN** Shia wha?
Breadbowl
LLH
Posted 6:38 AM 29/7/08
@Underage Lolita: Brohan...hehe
how about that being the first official word in the DEFAMER lexicon?
LLH
StormyMes
Posted 6:37 AM 29/7/08
@aspiringexpatriate: Teeny peeny.
StormyMes
Mel Gibstein
Posted 6:34 AM 29/7/08
@Old No.7: I sure hope you're kidding.
Mel Gibstein
whoneedslight
Posted 6:20 AM 29/7/08
This just makes me really, really angry.
whoneedslight
heidiho
Posted 6:19 AM 29/7/08
@Losin_it: Pesky camera. If it was a person, I'd have been able to dumb blonde my way out of it for sure.
heidiho
NoGrumpys
Posted 5:59 AM 29/7/08
I saw Shia LAbeouf and tubesteak - then rapidly lost interest...
NoGrumpys
Little Mintz Sunshine
Posted 5:57 AM 29/7/08
Damn, why do I always get hit by under-insured normal people?
Little Mintz Sunshine
NoWireHangers
Posted 5:55 AM 29/7/08
Shia plays the goody two-shoes on celluloid and then rebels in real life. I screamed aloud when he rolled in on that motorcycle in Indiana Crapfest--it was ridiculous. All his run-ins with the law have a bit of an Anthony Michael Hall stink to them. It's early enough where he doesn't have to pull a Lohan and destroy his parents' meal ticket. Watch yourself, Lebeouf. All you need is a good woman.
NoWireHangers
TryThisAtHome
Posted 5:54 AM 29/7/08
I'm glad that no one is dead from this stupid idiot's drunk driving. Drunken driving is not cool. Hope he learns a big lesson, but I seriously doubt it.
TryThisAtHome
Underage Lolita
Posted 5:51 AM 29/7/08
Brohan: A talented, fresh-faced child actor who finds himself "hanging out" with the "wrong sort". Brohans have a distinctive drunken gait and dilated pupils. Rehab is poisonous to Brohans, and can cause them to revert to their clear-eyed juvenile state.
Did you see that Brohan stumbling out of the club last night? I bet he'll have wicked 'exhaustion' on set today.
Underage Lolita
sassypants
Posted 5:49 AM 29/7/08
What's the over/under for his entrance into rehab? Anyone?
sassypants
Mephisto_Bonk
Posted 5:45 AM 29/7/08
@Losin_it: Well, if they ever re-make "HOOK", we'll have a perfect situation for Shia (think of all the time and money saved by the props people)
Mephisto_Bonk
Losin_it
Posted 5:45 AM 29/7/08
@heidiho: I'm surprised you couldn't charm your way out of that ticket.
Losin_it
bess marvin, girl detective
Posted 5:44 AM 29/7/08
you've already said it all seth. now all we can do is wait for the disarmingly cute mug shot.
bess marvin, girl detective
Old No.7
Posted 5:34 AM 29/7/08
@Mel Gibstein: Geez, how about a spoiler alert next time?
Old No.7
Mel Gibstein
Posted 5:33 AM 29/7/08
I would've thought that his team of vine-swinging CG monkeys would've scooped him up and swung him to safety before the cops arrived.
Mel Gibstein
WGARefugee
Posted 5:31 AM 29/7/08
If he thinks his hand is sore now, just wait and see how he feels after that celebrity DUI wristslapping!
WGARefugee
heidiho
Posted 5:31 AM 29/7/08
La Brea and Fountain. Argh, I got my one and only ticket at that fucking intersection.
So is Shia off to Promises or what?
heidiho
el smrtmnky
Posted 5:30 AM 29/7/08
@Mephisto_Bonk: always bet on leboeuf
el smrtmnky
aspiringexpatriate
Posted 5:29 AM 29/7/08
@aspiringexpatriate: Oh the hood is open! The truck is still freakishly tall. I used to drive an F-150, that one is taller than normal.
I'll never understand why people lift trucks that are already top-heavy.
aspiringexpatriate
Huge Tracts of Land
Posted 5:27 AM 29/7/08
No amount of dubious giant-headed aliens can save you now!
Huge Tracts of Land
aspiringexpatriate
Posted 5:27 AM 29/7/08
The F-150 flipped ontop of the other car? Or is it just freakishly tall with a ford grill on the roof of the truck?
That is one messed up accident.
aspiringexpatriate
Mephisto_Bonk
Posted 5:26 AM 29/7/08
Shia LaBeouf, you just cost me a steak dinner at Mastro's.
I had a bet with a friend - he bet that Shia would be arrested before Zac Efron would be outed as gay, and I chose the latter as the more likely to happen first.
Oh well, I guess it's a good excuse to enjoy the seafood tower and the lobster mashed potatoes again.
I hope that the boys and girls at Endeavor wipe the self-congratulatory smirks off their faces over the NYTimes puff piece, and get busy salvaging Shia's faltering career...
Mephisto_Bonk
kookla
Posted 5:24 AM 29/7/08
More importantly, does Optimus Prime have an alibi?
kookla
Juancho
Posted 5:20 AM 29/7/08
I wonder if the toilets for the "art project" were in the back.* Or his shotgun, for that matter.
("Cut! Print! OK, let's move on to the Soundwave breakdancing sequence..." I'm glad to see Seth brought his A-game today.)
*this is amusing only to GQ readers.
Juancho
Losin_it
Posted 5:09 AM 29/7/08
On the bright side, if he is out DUI, I can at least feel safe in my neighborhood Walgreens.
Losin_it
Old No.7
Posted 5:08 AM 29/7/08
Don't stress out Shia. You'll be out of jail in 3 hours or less.
Old No.7
Content Tool
Posted 11:28 AM 29/7/08
@Baronzemo: actually, it was Liz Taylor who offered up that sage piece of advice...
Content Tool
Benny
Posted 12:31 PM 29/7/08
@Losin_it: Well I've never done it, so I don't have any reason not to speak the truth. Drunk drivers are pieces of shit. People die, horribly, as a direct result of their stupidity and narcissism.
With all due respect, to suggest that it's okay (or at least more okay) because you've been there yourself is to not make any kind of sense, and smacks of the very shallowness and lack of accountability that inspires a drunk driver to get behind the wheel in the first place.
Benny
Selly11
Posted 2:19 PM 29/7/08
It is said that everyone is bi to some extent. Not sure about this. But I also heard about the same from some professional sites. Maybe it depends on how to define it.
If you can appreciate the beauty in both men and women, and find yourself attracted to the person regardless of their gender, then you are bi. Many hot and sexy bi singles & couples on ** BiLoves dotcom ** are looking to explore their bisexuality, coming out or enjoying their lives as bi here.
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Selly11
WGARefugee
Posted 5:01 PM 29/7/08
@Selly11: I don't think you're really cut out for this social marketing gig. Try spamming the Christian Bale thread, two doors down.
WGARefugee
Transuranic
Posted 1:44 AM 30/7/08
@WGARefugee: actually, Selly should try Gawker, Consumerist, or Jezebel, where there are so many not-worth-clicking comments that spam just gets lost in the crowd
Transuranic
MrRewrite
Posted 1:36 PM 30/7/08
oh and btw, Transformers are not bi or gay or straight, they're just transformers, so fucking leave them alone, lol
MrRewrite
MrRewrite
Posted 1:34 PM 30/7/08
to para-quote Shia's on-screen mom from Transformers Uno, 'were you masturbating in there?'
MrRewrite