Transformers star Shia LaBeouf has been making headlines all week after being arrested in New Orleans on Tuesday during the city's Mardi Gras celebrations.
Initially accused of "terrorising the city," the troubled actor was later arrested for two charges of simple battery. Now, though, LaBeouf's actions are being characterised as an alleged hate crime.
Jeffrey "Dammit," a master of ceremonies at various New Orleans events and an SAG (Screen Actors Guild) member, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, claiming that he was at the centre of the fight that has landed LaBeouf in hot water.
"He smashed into me, knocking me into some boxes," Jeffrey began, saying he first encountered the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny star late Monday afternoon. "Then he turned around screaming, 'Don’t you f*cking push me. I’ll kill you.' I hadn’t touched him"
"He said he’d 'kick my ass' and called me a f*ggot. I told him I wasn’t going to fight him. I wasn’t giving him that." LaBeouf reportedly returned to the R Bar through the early hours of Tuesday.
Jeffrey was bartending and says LaBeouf grew steadily more intoxicated as the hours passed. "He was screaming at a bartender and had to be escorted outside. Once outside, he started pacing in the street, yelling, 'You’re all a bunch of [frick]ing faggots. I’ll kick your ass.'"
"I grabbed him and held him for less than a minute so he wouldn’t beat up the bartender. The bartender told me to let go, and I did," Jeffrey continued, alleging that LaBeouf punched a second bartender in the face, breaking his nose.
Video clips from outside the bar show LaBeouf being restrained as he continues shouting. "He kept trying to get up and fight people. He wouldn’t stop screaming slurs. That’s why I say this wasn’t just a bar fight. This was about hate."
The actor has since been released on his own recognisance, with footage on social media showing him dancing on Bourbon Street and holding his jail release paperwork in his mouth.
Jeffrey said LaBeouf's early release "sends a terrible message," because, "In decades of coming to Mardi Gras, I’ve always understood that if you go to jail during Mardi Gras, you’re not getting out until after Ash Wednesday."
LaBeouf appeared in three movies last year: Henry Johnson, Salvable, and a documentary about himself, Slauson Rec. He has a couple of movies in pre-production, though it's unclear what, if anything, this means for the former child star.