Remember that little accident Shia LaBeouf was involved in last July, where he was involved in a wreck which flipped his truck, sent Shia and his buddies to the hospital, and resulted in his arrest for DUI?  (And remember when he was arrested at a Chicago Walgreens?  And that little smoking incident?)  Well, even though he was found not at fault in the accident, the actor has still lost his driver’s license for a year because he refused to blow into the tube:

The suspension, which took effect January 17, 2009, is the result of LaBeouf’s “refusal of chemical tests” in the wake of his accident, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The suspension will last a minimum of one year.

In September, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office announced there was “insufficient evidence” to charge the “Transformers” with drunken driving for his involvement in the accident, which left his hand badly injured.

The actor was arrested for suspicion of DUI following the crash after showing “physical signs” of being impaired, LA Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Steve Whitmore previously said.

However, at the time, the DA’s office did note LaBeouf’s refusal to take a breathalyzer test could result in a suspension of his license.

Sheriff’s deputies said later that LaBeouf was not at fault in the accident.

Well, couldn’t he have just been loopy from the crash or perhaps had an inner ear infection that threw off his sense of balance, I hear Shia fans crying?  Uhm, maybe not:

Actor Shia LaBeouf was at the Troubadour club watching the Lemon Son band on Santa Monica Blvd in L.A. Saturday night, a source tells Usmagazine.com.

“He was dancing around and acting really crazy,” the source tells Us. “He kept doing shots of whiskey.

“He stayed until the band was done and then stumbled out of the club by himself,” the witness reported.

Shia has recently disclosed that, just like eating potato chips, he has trouble stopping at one:

Over a three-month period in the past year, LaBeouf got into a series of entanglements with the law. Last November, he walked into a Chicago Walgreens to buy cigarettes, had a drunken argument with a security guard, and was arrested for trespassing after refusing to leave the store. In February, he was cited for smoking a cigarette on public property in Burbank, California. A few weeks later an arrest warrant was issued when he failed to appear in court for that charge. “I don’t ever remember getting arrested sober. I was always arrested drunk,” he says. “It’s when I’m drinking that I don’t have the wherewithal to be able to realize the position of my life. There’s too much at stake for me to throw it away. I enjoy what I’m able to give my family. I enjoy the people that I’m able to wake up and work with. And I don’t want to throw away what I’ve worked so hard for 12 years to achieve, based on an argument that takes place in 20 minutes.” [...]

The script rarely gets away from LaBeouf. It got away from him in Chicago last November, when a late-night nicotine jones ended in that trespassing charge. (”It was two hotheads,” he says, “one completely in the wrong, one who wasn’t enjoying his job that night, going at it about minuscule bullsh*t.”) And the glee with which the mainstream news media, itching for a YOUNG ACTOR FLAMES OUT headline, seized on it led to the end of one of his and his father’s longtime bonding rituals. “We would drink together and smoke together,” LaBeouf says, “and it’s just a bad deal. It’s not something that is conducive to being a role model—no iconic actors that I know of have problems like that. And I don’t know how to do it like a gentleman. I don’t know how to have one drink.”

If it sounds like an actor struggling to stay in character, it may be. “I mean, look, you get arrested, it’s out of control. There’s nothing ‘in control’ about the situation,” he says. “It’s not as though things happen to me and I don’t say, never again.” But LaBeouf concedes that sticking to the straight-and-narrow is easier said than done. “I can never say never, because of where I’m at in my life and the vices that I’ve let go of,” he says. “But even when I was drinking, I never missed call times, ever.”

I mean, if you’re going to be arrested anyway for DUI, why not go ahead and blow and get it over with?  But, I guess critical thinking skills aren’t at their strongest when you’re drunk.

This is a young guy, early twenties.  He doesn’t have to succumb to the temptations of young Hollywood (or even old Hollywood).  He is still in the early stages of what is shaping up to be a promising career.  I sincerely hope that he has people around him who will take him aside and tell him that if he doesn’t watch it now, he’s going to throw the whole thing right down the toilet if he keeps up his past bad behavior.  That last quote bothers me, however.

It doesn’t have to have an unhappy ending, though.  Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for Shia, and he will use this to keep himself clean and sober from now on.  It’s hard, but it can be done, and I hope that Shia decides that he is worth the effort.

Shia LeBeouf, actor, dumbass, poor choice maker

Sunday morning, around 2:45 am, Shia LeBeouf made a poor choice (a term I use with my kids). Although in actuality, the poor choice began when he decided to get behind the wheel after drinking WAY too much, minor details folks.

Back to 2:45 am. This is apparently when Shia and his unidentified female passenger, were struck by another vehicle which caused his truck to roll over on its roof. While Shia’s passenger and the other drive sustained minor injuries, Shia had to be admitted to the hospital to have surgery on his hand, but only after he was arrested on misdemeanor DUI charges. Shia is extremely lucky the other parties’ injuries were minor, or he would have been charged with a felony DUI, and subjected to more severe punishment. From the CNN report:

LaBeouf was trying to make a left turn at a West Hollywood intersection around 3 a.m. when his pickup collided with another vehicle, rolling the truck over, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Wolf said.

“It was immediately apparent to officers responding on the scene that LaBeouf was intoxicated and he was subsequently placed under arrest,” Wolf said.

Wolf said LaBeouf was booked then released for misdemeanor DUI. The 22-year-old actor was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and was being treated for injuries to his left hand and a knee, as well as a minor head injury, Wolf said.

Shia’s spokesperson released this statement:

“Attorneys for Mr. LaBeouf confirm that an automobile accident involving an additional party occurred early morning in Los Angeles on July 27, 2008. Shia is currently recovering from extensive hand surgery with plans to return to work on the set of ‘Transformers 2′ within one month. No further comment will be issued at this time.”

Shia, 22, who had been enjoying his box office success starring opposite Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones 4 film, is no stranger to trouble, but this is his worst incident thus far. Shia has previously been cited for smoking in a non-smoking area in Burbank and for unlawful trespassing at a Chicago Walgreens. Both charges were dropped, which is NOT likely to happen with his current DUI charges. Shia also had a video surface recently showing him drunk and encouraging a friend to punch him, which included the use of gay slur. Clearly the kid has a drinking problem.

Shia now joins a growing club of Hollywood’s less than stellar stars who’ve been busted for drinking and driving, proving that this group is too stupid to learn from the mistakes of others. I find it especially galling that these stars get themselves into this kind of trouble because unlike us regular folks, they have handlers, assistants and loads of cash to keep them from making poor choices. Why not call a cab, why not call your assistant to pick you up? Why not hire a limo for the evening if you know you will be drinking too much.

Shia, I have defended you in the past. I have declared you one of the good ones, who was a bit on the edge, but smart enough to make decent decisions about your life. You have a history of drug dependency in your family and I would think you’d take that into consideration when make life choices. I am not going to tell you I am surprised you were busted, but I will tell you you’ve lost a fan. You could have killed someone, an innocent person, because you showed no regard for the safety of others. For your sake, I hope they throw the book at you so you will learn a valuable lesson.

Now do me a favor, don’t show up in the police blotter ever again, and I may forgive you some day.

Dumbass.

Shia LaBeouf, costar of the new Indiana Jones and The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull film, and star of last summer’s Transformers movie, is HOT, with a capital H O T, but sadly, like most young stars in Hollywood, he has a penchant for being a major dumbass at times.

Yesterday, a YouTube video showing a young Shia drunk off his ass, screwing around with some friends surfaced on the internet. LeBeouf, who was goading his friend in what can only be described as a teen prank, called him of them a “f*ggot”. Now, E! is reporting that Shia is “embarrassed” by the video and his rep issued a statement:

“The videotape that is currently being circulated is several years old and captures Shia playing a game among friends in which he uses a derogatory word toward a friend,” LaBeouf’s rep tells me exclusively. “He regrets having used the word in any capacity and is very embarrassed that this footage is being seen by anyone.”

That last sentence is the clincher. If you watch the video (it’s been pulled from YT) the real issue here is excessive drinking and stupidity. It’s pretty doubtful that Shia is anti-gay or that he thinks his friend exhibits signs which demonstrate any “gay-like” qualities. Essentially, Shia was doing what most boys at that age do: acting like an idiot.

To take this whole thing out of context makes light of real bigots and gay-bashers I feel. While Shia should understand he’s in the limelight and exercise some control over himself, I do NOT feel this incident should imply anything inherently evil about Shia, except perhaps he can’t handle his liquor. And considering his family history, he might be better off not drinking at all.

P.S. Shia, you might want to get better friends, you know, the kind that don’t sell you out.

File this under “mountain out of a mole-hill”.

Via Michael K at DListed.

Sometimes when I walk into a Walgreens, I am so overcome by excitement at all the awesome sundries they have, I start running up and down the aisle, screaming like a rabid Sasquatch and proceed to drop a grumpy right on the floor in the cosmetics aisle.

Apparently so does Transformers‘ star Shia LeBouf. Luckily, because he is so darn cute he was able to get all charges against him dropped stemming from an arrest last month at a Chicago Walgreens.

LaBeouf was arrested on Nov. 4th for refusing to leave the store after Walgreens employees asked him to vacate the premises. Walgreens staff felt LaBeouf was either intoxicated or on drugs and was causing a scene. He was probably trying buy some condoms and got confused and started putting them on in the store. Or not, who knows, I just made that up because Shia so cute — and so young (21).

Is it wrong that I imagined him trying on condoms. Shhhh…don’t tell anyone.