Shia LaBeouf Opens Up About Alcoholism, Dealing With Abused Childhood And Money Issues

Shia LaBeouf has had a troubled past, and he’s okay with letting the world know. The 33-year-old American actor revealed that the Disney stardom took a toll on his well-being, push him to chronic alcoholism, and was diagnosed with PTSD owing to the same.

Shia, who came into the limelight at an early age, opened about his financial struggles—largely to keep his family going. “In a very simple way, to me, having money meant having a family,” LaBeouf said, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast, on Tuesday. “The more money I had, the more I could have my family around. That’s just how I equated it,” he added.

The stress of handling the inflow of funds in the family eventually took a toll on LaBeouf’s well-being. All through his career, LaBeouf made headlines for his volatile outbursts and public arrests.

The turning point in his life occurred in the form of an arrest back in 2017. The actor was charged for his aggressive behavior towards an undercover cop in Savannah, while he was filming “The Peanut Butter Falcon."

Soon after, the actor left for Connecticut to attend a court-ordered rehab for an open-ended period. It was during this phase that the actor realized the underlying causes behind his acute struggles with alcoholism— post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It was the first time I’d been told I had PSTD,” LaBeouf said on the podcast. “I just thought I was an alcoholic, like, a true-blue drunk and I needed to deal with that. I knew it was an issue but didn’t know there was this extra whole other thing that was hindering my ability to have any peace in my life and my ability to deal with people,” he added.

The experience changed his life for good, and was also the impetus behind LaBeouf's new offering, “Honey Boy”. The film essays his struggles with his father, trauma and what led him to the extreme hustle. The actor has maintained that everything that has been depicted in the movie has happened in his life. "Honey Boy" is slated to air on Amazon on Friday, Nov. 8.