'I didn't want anyone else to get hurt': FKA twigs admits she's 'proud of keeping her s**t together' before filing lawsuit against ex Shia LaBeouf for 'physical and psychological abuse'

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FKA twigs has confessed she is 'proud of keeping her s**t together' in the months before accusing her ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf of physical and psychological abuse.

The singer, 34, admitted she filed a lawsuit against the actor, 36, because she 'didn't want anyone else to get hurt, while covering British GQ's July/August issue.

In December 2020, twigs - whose was born Tahliah Debrett Barnett - filed a legal action against her former partner in Los Angeles Superior Court last December, and he has denied abuse claims.

'I didn't want anyone else to get hurt': FKA twigs has confessed she is 'proud of keeping her s**t together' in the months before filing a lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf for alleged physical and psychological abuse

Reflecting on maintaining her composure amid the turmoil in her life, she revealed 'sometimes it was difficult' but she ultimately wanted to be there for her fans.

The Tears In The Club songstress told the magazine: 'One of the greatest achievements of the whole of my life was keeping my s**t together.

'It was one of the things I'm most proud of, that I was able to go on tour and do interviews and stay graceful and keep that calmness…

Ex: In December 2020, twigs - whose was born Tahliah Debrett Barnett - filed a legal action against her former partner in Los Angeles Superior Court last December, and he has denied abuse claims (Shia pictured in 2019)

'I look at that as a testament to my upbringing and a testament to how much I love my art and a testament to how much I want to show up for people that bought tickets to my gig, because sometimes it was so difficult.'

Twigs confided that she came forward with her story as a survivor of domestic abuse to release the pain so that she may once again be healed, and so that others, also like her, could somehow find a way to do the same.

She said: 'I just didn't want anyone else to get hurt, and that trumped any way that I felt about what people may think about me now, positively or negatively.'

The case will appear in front of a judge in April 2023.

Wearing a white netted minidress above a coordinating bra top and matching bikini bottoms, she put on a showstopping display for the accompanying photoshoot. 

Shia's representatives have been contacted for comment by MailOnline. 

Strong: The singer, 34, admitted she filed a lawsuit against the actor, 36, because she 'didn't want anyone else to get hurt, while covering British GQ 's July/August issue

In early 2021, FKA appeared in a powerful CBS This Morning interview, in which she shut down Gayle King when she asked why the singer didn't leave Shia amid their allegedly abusive relationship.

Gayle, 66, asked FKA twigs, 'Nobody who's been in this position likes this question, and I often wonder if it's even appropriate to ask… why didn't you leave?'

'I think we have to stop asking that question,' FKA told King in response to the question, citing the complicated dynamics of being in an abusive relationship.

She told the host, 'I know that you're asking it out of love, but like, I'm just going to make a stance and say I'm not going to answer that question anymore because the question should really be to the abuser, "Why are you holding someone hostage with abuse?"

'People say, "Oh, it can't have been that bad, because she would've left." And it's like no, because it was that bad, I couldn't leave.'

Strong: In early 2021, FKA appeared on CBS This Morning, where she shut down Gayle King when she asked why the singer didn't leave Shia amid their allegedly abusive relationship

Elsewhere in the interview, FKA said that her ex-boyfriend's apology over her abuse claims is a form of 'gaslighting' and the conflicting nature of it reminds her of his behavior during their relationship.

FKA told Gayle: 'I think it reminds me of some of the gaslighting I experienced when I was with him. The taking some of the blame, but not all of it and then denying it.

She also said: 'Abusers use gaslighting, which is where somebody minimises your experience and alters your narrative and [doesn't listen] to you and denying your experience.

'Eventually it did become physical,' she added. 'There were certain instances where he would push me and say "you fell". And I would get really confused and think maybe I did.'

The latest: FKA said that her ex-boyfriend's apology over her abuse claims is a form of 'gaslighting' and the conflicting nature of it reminds her of his behavior in their relationship

She also broke down in tears as she claimed Shia could have killed them both when he threatened to crash the car around Valentine's Day 2019 during a 'disturbing' trip to a spa in Palm Springs.

FKA claimed that he was 'speeding down the motorway and saying that if I said I didn't love him and if I was going to leave him, he would smash the car to the side of a wall.

'I thought "Wow, he needs so much control over me that he would kill us both."

'And eventually, he pulled over to a gas station and I tried to unload my bags from the car and there were three men opposite the car and I remember thinking "This is it, I'm done, I can't do this anymore."'

She claimed he 'picked her up, threw her against the car, and started strangling her'. FKA told King: 'That's when I realised I need help to get out of this relationship.'

Gayle asked: 'What did the men at the gas station do?'

She replied: 'They did nothing. They just watched us and I felt so alone. That's why I wanted to come forward. Victims and survivors shouldn't have to feel alone.'

FKA continued: 'After that weekend and going back to where I was staying, I looked at myself in the mirror and one side of me was, like, completely black. And I was so shocked, you know?'

'So I've gone back to where I was staying, and the whole one side of my body is black and blue. I remember thinking, you know, I'm a dancer and I really love my body, and I take such good care of it.

'And I was looking at my body and I just thought, "Where did it all go wrong? How am I here?" I never saw this for my life.'

Looking back: The artist noted, 'People say, "Oh, it can’t have been that bad, because she would’ve left." And it’s like no, because it was that bad, I couldn’t leave'

FKA said that at this point, she called a helpline for domestic abuse victims.

She also told Elle that she feared for her life while in the relationship with LaBeouf, saying: 'I thought to myself, "If he shoots me, and then if there is some sort of investigation, they will put the pieces together. I need to leave little clues."'

Discussing their relationship, FKA recalled LaBeouf's violence against animals, which he appeared to feel no guilt over.

She said that he would 'shamelessly brag' about shooting stray dogs, claiming it helped him 'get into character' for his role in the 2020 film The Tax Collector.

Twigs confronted him about it, but LaBeouf managed to turn her into the villain — a classic abuser tactic.

'I said to him, "That’s really bad. Why are you doing that?"' she recalled.

Struggle: FKA also told how she feared for her life while in the relationship with LaBeouf, saying 'I've woken up to him strangling me multiple times'

'And he was like, "Because I take my art seriously. You’re not supporting me in my art. This is what I do. It’s different from singing. I don’t just get up on a stage and do a few moves. I’m in the character."

'He made me feel bad, like I didn’t understand what it was like to be an actor or to do this...Method [acting technique],' she said.

She also said that LaBeouf was already professing his love a week or two into their relationship, and when they hit a rough patch, he sent her up to 20 bouquets of flowers a day — something she describes as 'really aggressive love.'

Manipulation tactics like that, she said, are how even strong women can find themselves in abusive relationships.

'People wouldn’t think that it would happen to a woman like me. The biggest misconception is, "Well, you’re smart. If it was that bad, why didn’t you leave?" she said, but added: 'It can happen to anyone.'

'If you put a frog in a boiling pot of water, that frog is going to jump out straightaway,' she went on. 'Whereas if you put a frog in cool water and heat it up slowly, that frog is going to boil to death. That was my experience being with [LaBeouf].'

As their relationship progressed, LaBeouf's abuse escalated, especially after they moved in together in October 2018.

She recalled how he would keep her from sleeping, waking her up in the middle of the night to accuse her of various made-up offenses, like masturbating next to him or secretly plotting to leave him, all while she has been fast asleep.

'I’ve woken up to him strangling me multiple times. I’ve not been able to breathe at his hands,' she said.

'He made me feel like I wasn’t allowed joy, basically. That’s what it boils down to: I wasn’t allowed joy unless it directly revolved around him,' she added.

His side: The actor has 'denied each and every' assault allegation by the artist - and wants her to pay his legal costs after she blamed him for 'relentless abuse' (pictured in 2019)

Shia's attorney has said in a court filing that the Honey Boy actor 'denies generally and specifically each and every allegation' in FKA's complaint.

Shia has apologised to 'those he had hurt' but has 'denied each and every' assault allegation by the singer and wants her to pay his legal costs.

According to legal documents obtained by People, Shia denies that [Barnett] has sustained any injury or loss by reason of any act or omission on the part of [LaBeouf], and denies that [Barnett] is entitled to any relief or damages whatsoever'.

His lawyers added that 'none of the acts alleged were based on sex and/or the conduct was not sexual' as they try to get the sexual battery allegations dismissed.

The actor also told The New York Times 'many' of the allegations were not true, and that he has 'no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations.

He apologised but only in part, saying: 'I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I'm ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.'

The filmmaker also said that he owed the women 'the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done,' according to NYT.

Shia added that he was currently in therapy and in a 12-step program, although he is 'not cured of my PTSD and alcoholism.'

Reflecting on their 'nightmare' relationship, FKA claimed her former partner would force her to 'sleep naked' and called her 'disgusting and vile' in her chat with King.

The singer - who dated the troubled actor from September 2018 until June 2019 - said: 'He would often start an argument with me in the middle of the night. He would start accusing me of doing all sorts of things, planning to leave him in my head.

'That I was disgusting and vile. Nothing was ever true but I would really doubt myself, especially when I would wake up, and he would be like "You were lying there with your eyes open, planning to leave me." And I would be like "I was literally asleep."'

'He would only want me to sleep naked because he said if I didn't, I was keeping myself from him.'

MailOnline contacted Shia's representatives for further comment at the time.

Since FKA's allegations, LaBeouf is thought to have welcomed his first child with ex-wife Mia Goth in March, following their marriage between 2016 and 2018.

He also successfully completed a year-long judicial diversion program in May stemming from 2020 misdemeanor battery and petty theft charges.

Shia split from girlfriend Margaret Qualley, 26, with sources saying the actress was aware of the 'backlash' she received for dating him.

After news of the suit emerged, a number of his former partners stepped forward to accuse him of various forms of abuse.

New dad: Since FKA's allegations, LaBeouf is thought to have welcomed his first child with ex-wife Mia Goth in March, following their marriage between 2016 and 2018 (pictured in 2014)

Singer Sia said he 'conned' her into an adulterous relationship with him, calling him a 'pathological liar'. He had previously starred in her music video for the song Elastic Heart in 2015.

Songwriter Katy Rose has also alleged that he 'groped' her 'violently' at a party in the Hollywood Hills once and stylist Karolyn Pho joined Twigs' lawsuit.

Pho, a stylist, alleged in the suit that Shia 'drunkenly pinned her to a bed and head-butted her, enough that she bled.'

Questions also arose around his sudden departure from Olivia Wilde's forthcoming movie, Don't Worry Darling. 

Traumatic: The former couple met in the summer of 2018 on the set of Honey Boy and dated for less than a year

Shia had been picked for a role but left the project before it began shooting and was replaced by Harry Styles.

UK readers: Call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/

US readers: Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or visit www.thehotline.org

The July/ August issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on 28th June.

FKA twigs will be speaking at the GQ Heroes conference in association with BMW, taking place at Soho Farmhouse, Oxfordshire from the 13th-15th July 

It's over: Since FKA's allegations, LaBeouf has split from girlfriend Margaret Qualley, with sources saying the actress was aware of the 'backlash' she received for dating him (pictured last year)