In a recent interview with Dazed, Shia LaBeouf revealed that a woman raped him during his #IAMSORRY performance in February during which the actor sat in a chair and visitors could interact with him. LaBeouf claims that during the performance, "one woman whipped my legs for 10 minutes and then stripped my clothing and proceeded to rape me." On Sunday, one of his collaborators responded to the claims via Twitter.
Luke Turner, one of the artists behind the project, didn't deny the alleged events, but clarified rumors that the performance invited people to do whatever they wanted. "Nowhere did we state that people could do whatever they wanted to Shia during #IAMSORRY," he posted on Twitter. He also contradicted LaBeouf's claims that visitors had free reign over the actor during their visit.
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Nowhere did we state that people could do whatever they wanted to Shia during #IAMSORRY.
— Luke Turner (@Luke_Turner) November 30, 2014As soon as we were aware of the incident starting to occur, we put a stop to it and ensured that the woman left.
— Luke Turner (@Luke_Turner) November 30, 2014When Piers Morgan asked Turner why they let the woman who allegedly raped LaBeouf walk away, the artist responded that it wasn't so simple as that.
@piersmorgan It wasn’t clear at the time precisely what had happened, & the 1st priority was to ensure everybody's safety in the gallery…1/2
— Luke Turner (@Luke_Turner) November 30, 2014@piersmorgan She ran out, rather than simply walking away. Beyond that, it's not my place to comment. 2/2
— Luke Turner (@Luke_Turner) November 30, 2014#IAMSORRY was a performance piece by LaBeouf during which he sat silently behind a desk wearing a paper bag over his head that read "I am not famous anymore." The alleged rape took place during this five-day project. (The Guardian)