<\/p>\n
New Orleans has long been a city of escape for Hollywood stars hoping to step out of the limelight.<\/p>\n
Actors John Goodman and Jennifer Coolidge quietly cocooned in their respective Garden District mansions for years \u2014 the \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d star even hosts an annual Halloween party that draws locals and stars to the city for spooky season. Jude Law and his family reportedly rented a place Uptown while his London area home was renovated. Aside from popping up at a few events, Law kept a pretty low profile.<\/p>\n
Comedian Amy Schumer briefly lived in the heart of it all in a French Quarter cottage where she enjoyed listening to drunk people party and crashing wedding second lines that marched near her front door. And before Taylor Swift brought the Eras Tour to the Superdome, she visited the Crescent City to celebrate her birthday, largely going without notice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In a city known for its excess, A-listers have found peace in the party and have successfully led relatively quiet lives away from headlines and paparazzi.<\/p>\n
Enter: Shia LaBeouf<\/p>\n
The \u201cTransformers\u201d and \u201cHoles\u201d actor certainly made a grand entrance during Carnival leading up to his arrest on Fat Tuesday following a fight at R Bar. And in the week since Mardi Gras, LaBeouf hasn\u2019t shied away from cameras or the general public.<\/p>\n
LaBeouf, who is Louisiana Cajun, is no stranger to New Orleans. He\u2019s spent time here in the past and was photographed in Slidell in 2025. His recent presence in the Crescent City, however, has resulted in viral videos, national headlines and an online stir in New Orleans over whether he should be left alone or show more respect for the city that appears to be his new home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Here\u2019s a timeline of LaBeouf\u2019s recent adventures in New Orleans.<\/p>\n
LaBeouf first made headlines this year while soaking in the Mardi Gras revelry as a spectator at the Bacchus parade Feb. 15. With beads draped around his neck, the actor went shirtless and posed for photos with fans.<\/p>\n
The Hollywood Reporter wrote<\/a> that LaBeouf showed up at Ms. Mae\u2019s during the parade \u2014 still shirtless \u2014 in a state that an employee described as \u201cinebriated\u201d and \u201csomewhat belligerent.\u201d He did put on his shirt when asked, but reportedly struggled to comprehend the bar\u2019s strict cash only rule. He was ultimately asked to leave the beloved dive after attempting to clock in as a celebrity bartender, according to employee interviews with The Hollywood Reporter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But even before his free-the-nipple foray along the Bacchus route, word of unusual encounters with the actor proliferated around the city. A Dos Jefes patron accused LaBeouf of being obnoxiously loud at the jazz bar on Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and a French Quarter bartender told The Times-Picayune that she on Friday asked LaBeouf and a woman to leave a French Quarter bar after a brief argument over Irish car bombs.<\/p>\n The consequences of LaBeouf\u2019s apparent day\u2019s-long bar crawl across New Orleans (hey, we\u2019ve all been there) came to a head early on Fat Tuesday. It was just before 1 a.m. at R Bar, where one witness said LaBeouf had seemingly been holed up since at least 5 p.m.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s still not exactly clear what sent LaBeouf into his now infamous fit of rage, but an employee and other patrons attempted to force LaBeouf out of the bar after he became increasingly \u201cirate and aggressive,\u201d according to a New Orleans Police Department arrest report.<\/p>\n It was a chaotic scene for the next roughly 30 minutes, according to police reports and witness interviews<\/a>, as several patrons and staff members tried to get LaBeouf to leave, all while the actor threw punches and shoved those involved.<\/p>\n Video footage shared with The Times-Picayune shows LaBeouf removing his shirt \u2014 not for the first time this Carnival season \u2014 outside the bar and squaring up to fight as several bystanders attempt to defuse the situation, shouting \u201cDon\u2019t swing\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t do it.\u201d LaBeouf can be seen shoving one person to the ground and punching another in the face before pushing a third.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n NOPD officers said in an arrest report that LaBeouf punched two men, dislocating one victim\u2019s nose, and repeatedly shouted a homophobic slur<\/a> during the fight and his arrest, at one point saying, \u201cThese f****ts put me in jail. I\u2019m a Catholic.\u201d<\/p>\n LaBeouf was booked into the Orleans Parish jail on two counts of simple battery.<\/p>\n The bar brawl didn\u2019t keep LaBeouf down for long. He was released on his own recognizance at around 9:45 a.m. the same day, according to court documents, meaning he did not have to pay bail so long as he shows for future court dates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Later that night, LaBeouf was out partying on Bourbon Street again.<\/a> Baton Rouge\u2019s WAFB-TV reporter Liam Combs found the star standing outside Arnaud\u2019s at the corner of Bourbon and Bienville streets, posing for photos and chatting with fans. This time, he had a shirt on.<\/p>\n \u201cGod bless you guys,\u201d LaBeouf said in the brief interview. \u201cMardi Gras is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Hours later on Wednesday morning, LaBeouf took to social media to comment on his arrest publicly<\/a> for the first time. With just two words posted to X at 4:27 a.m., he kept it brief: \u201cFree me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The cryptic post was likely a reference to the \u201cFree Shia\u201d phrase that became a kind of Mardi Gras motto across the city and a trending hashtag on social media immediately following the news of LaBeouf\u2019s arrest. It gained popularity online and elsewhere before the news of LaBeouf\u2019s use of a homophobic slur was released by police.<\/p>\n In what is perhaps a Lenten return to health and wellness after the rowdy Mardi Gras season, LaBeouf has been spotted and photographed jogging and getting coffee Uptown.<\/p>\nR Bar brawl<\/h3>\n
Back on Bourbon<\/h3>\n
\u2018Free me\u2019<\/h3>\n
Jogging and coffee<\/h3>\n