FKA Twigs Gave A Powerful Interview About The Early Signs Of Abuse

During a Feb. 18 appearance on CBS This Morning, singer FKA twigs' interview about abuse shed light on how it can begin. "He would often just start having an argument with me in the middle of the night, start accusing me of doing all sorts of things — planning to leave him in my head," she claimed, describing the early stages of her relationship with actor Shia LaBeouf. "He'd wake me up and tell me that I was disgusting, that I was vile." (LaBeouf previously denied his ex's allegations of abuse; Elite Daily reached out to his reps for additional comment on her CBS interview and did not hear back in time for publication.)

When interviewer Gayle King asked twigs to clarify if she intended to leave LaBeouf at that time, the singer explained, "Nothing was ever true... But I would really doubt myself." She claimed, "You know, especially when I'd wake up and he'd be like, 'You were lying there with your eyes open planning to leave me,' and I'd be like, 'I literally was asleep.'"

twigs shed light on one of LaBeouf's alleged methods of control, which she said is common among abusers. "He would, like, only want me to sleep naked because he said if I didn't then I was keeping myself from him," she claimed. "So, you know, it's a tactic that a lot of abusers use. It's just this, like, constant availability and everything centered around them. And I think, you know, that's why I wanted to come out and talk about this because the signs really are there from the beginning."

King asked when twigs first knew something was wrong. "There wasn't one set moment, but it's very subtle," twigs said. "That's the thing about domestic abuse, domestic violence. It's a real gradual, step-by-step process to get somebody to a place where they lose themselves so much they accept or feel like they deserve to be treated in that way. It's not one thing. It's loads of tiny little things that get sewn together into a nightmare."

twigs sued LaBeouf in December of 2020 for abuse she alleged took place while they dated from 2018 to 2019. In addition to accusing him of sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress, the musician also alleged he knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease.

In a response to her suit reportedly obtained by People on Feb. 10, LaBeouf's legal team apparently stated that the actor "denies, generally and specifically, each and every allegation contained in [twigs]'s Complaint, denies that [twigs] has sustained any injury or loss by reason of any act or omission on the part of [LaBeouf], and denies that [twigs] is entitled to any relief or damages whatsoever."

Following the clip of her appearance on CBS This Morning, King revealed that their conversation marked twigs' "first TV interview."

"She said, "I've never talked to a TV reporter before.' She was a little nervous... she didn't want to be talking to me," King recalled. "She said, 'I tried to settle this privately. I went to him and said, 'If you will get help, if you will make a donation to women's charities about abuse, this will never see the light of day.' And, when he didn't, she felt she had to speak up."

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1(800) 799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org.