Shia LaBeouf blamed his Mardi Gras bar brawl arrest on his fear of gay people.
“I’ll be honest with you, big gay people are scary to me,” the former child star boldly admitted in an interview with Andrew Callaghan’s Channel 5, which was posted on YouTube Saturday.
“When I’m like standing by myself and three gays are next to me, touching my leg, I get scared. I’m sorry. If that’s homophobic, then I’m that. Yeah.”
After clarifying that his description of events only “happened one time,” he insisted, “Well, that’s why I, umm, got arrested.”
“I am wrong for touching anyone. Ever. And that’s the end of my statement on this whole s—t,” he closed, adding that he did not want to describe the situation as him being “groped and surrounded.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the actor, 39, clarified: “I’m good with gay, [but] be gay over there, though. Don’t be gay in my lap.”
“That’s why. I was drunk and it’s Mardi Gras. So, everything I’m saying is nonsense,” he continued.
LaBeouf went on to divulge intimate details about his mental health issues, saying that he feels triggered to respond when his “masculinity” is “challenged.”
“My dad was raped by his cousin. So, he was in my ear all the time,” he said, noting that the issue is something he’s potentially had for many years.
“I’ve never had no problem with gay people. Never. I remember paying for people’s transition surgery when I was f—king around on the internet heavy. I’ve never been adversarial towards it,” LaBeouf doubled down.
The “Holes” star acknowledged that his behavior in the physical altercation was “bulls—t,” but added that he’s “not into” the idea of going back to rehab — despite reports that his ex Mia Goth wants him to go — because he doesn’t think he’ll find “answers” to his problems in a rehab facility.
“I don’t think I have a drinking problem. I think I have a different problem and I’m gonna address it,” he said. “I think I have a small man complex.”
“I think it’s something that has to do with anger and ego more so than my drinking.”
LaBeouf was arrested on Feb. 17 and charged with two counts of simple battery after he was allegedly involved in a bar brawl with two men while celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Footage of the incident showed the actor yelling gay slurs at the men, calling them “f——ts” while throwing punches at them. At one point, he was captured on video head-butting one of the men, which, according to the police report, left him with a possibly broken nose.
Hours after he was released from jail, LaBeouf quickly resumed his partying that night. The next day, he was spotted going for a run before heading to church for Ash Wednesday service.
The actor appeared in court for the incident on Thursday where Judge Simone Levine ordered him to attend rehab, undergo a drug testing program and pay a $100,000 bond as conditions of his release from custody.
In the most recent update, a new warrant for LaBeouf’s arrest was issued by the New Orleans Police Department on Friday in connection to the original bar altercation.
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