Shia LaBeouf is claiming that Olivia Wilde did not fire him from her upcoming film Don’t Worry Darling, but rather that he quit of his own volition because he didn’t get enough rehearsal time.

Wilde, who directed the film, has claimed that she fired LaBeouf—who was initially cast as the male lead Jack, husband to Florence Pugh’s Alice—and replaced him with Harry Styles. “I say this as someone who is such an admirer of his work. His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions,” Wilde told Variety in a recent cover story. “He has a process that, in some ways, seems to require a combative energy, and I don’t personally believe that is conducive to the best performances. I believe that creating a safe, trusting environment is the best way to get people to do their best work. Ultimately, my responsibility is to the production and to the cast to protect them. That was my job.” Last year, without naming LaBeouf, Wilde described in an interview what she called a “no assholes policy” regarding who she chooses to work with. 

LaBeouf initially declined to comment on Wilde’s August cover story. But now, LaBeouf claims that’s not what actually went down. The Honey Boy actor recently sent Variety screenshots of multiple text messages he allegedly exchanged with Wilde in August of 2020 as he was exiting the project, and said in emails to the outlet that he felt that he did not have enough time to rehearse; this, says LaBeouf, is why he quit the film. (Vanity Fair has reached out to Wilde’s representative for comment.) Variety also reported that LaBeouf provided a video in his email in which Wilde is seen trying to convince the actor to stay on the project. Per Variety, the text screenshots show that LaBeouf and Wilde met on August 16, 2020, to discuss his exit from the film, and later that evening, he received a text message from Wilde. 

“Thanks for letting me in on your thought process. I know that isn’t fun. Doesn’t feel good to say no to someone, and I respect your honesty,” the text reportedly reads. “I’m honored you were willing to go there with me, for me to tell a story with you. I’m gutted because it could have been something special. I want to make clear how much it means to me that you trust me. That’s a gift I’ll take with me.”

LaBeouf claims that he officially quit the project the following day, prompting the video message from Wilde. In the video, Wilde reportedly can be seen driving her car while telling LaBeouf that she is “not ready to give up on this yet” and insinuating that LaBeouf’s commitment level to the project might serve as a “wake-up call” for Pugh.

“I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I too am heartbroken and I want to figure this out,” she says in the video. “You know, I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo, and I want to know if you’re open to giving this a shot with me, with us. If she really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point, and if you guys can make peace—and I respect your point of view, I respect hers—but if you guys can do it, what do you think? Is there hope? Will you let me know?”

Ultimately, LaBeouf did not move forward with the project. Months later, in December 2020, LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend, the musician FKA Twigs (born Tahliah Debrett Barnett) sued LaBeouf for sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress, claiming they were engaged in a “relentless” abusive relationship. She spoke to Elle in February 2021 about the relationship, saying it was “It’s a miracle I came out alive.” People obtained LaBeouf’s response to her lawsuit, in which he “denies, generally and specifically, each and every allegation contained in [Barnett]’s Complaint.” But he had also admitted to long-running to toxicity, telling The New York Times, in part, “I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”

LaBeouf also sent Variety an email he sent to Wilde on Wednesday, asking her to “correct the narrative as best you can” regarding his exit from Don’t Worry Darling. In the email, he reveals that he’s 627 days sober and references his relationship with FKA Twigs, saying his “failings with Twigs are fundamental and real.” 

“Firing me never took place, Olivia,” LaBeouf writes. “And while I fully understand the attractiveness of pushing that story because of the current social landscape, the social currency that brings. It is not the truth.”

Below is LaBeouf’s email to Wilde, published in Variety:

Olivia,

I hope this finds you inspired, purposeful, fulfilled & well. I pray every night that you & your family have health, happiness, & everything God would give me. No joke, every night before I sleep.

I have a little girl, Isabel; she is five months old and just beginning to develop the last half of her laugh; it’s AMAZING. Mia, my wife & I have found each other again & are journeying toward a healthy family with love and mutual respect.

I have embarked on a journey that feels redemptive & righteous (dirty word but fitting). I write to you now with 627 days of sobriety and a moral compass that never existed before my great humbling that was the last year and a quarter of my life. I reached out to you a few months ago to make amends; & I still pray one day, you can find space in your heart to forgive me for the failed collaboration we shared.

What inspired this email today is your latest Variety story. I am greatly honored by your words on my work; thank you, that felt good to read. I am a little confused about the narrative that I was fired, however. You and I both know the reasons for my exit. I quit your film because your actors & I couldn’t find time to rehearse. I have included as a reminder the screenshots of our text exchange on that day, and my text to Tobey.

I know that you are beginning your press run for DWD and that the news of my firing is attractive clickbait, as I am still persona-non-grata and may remain as such for the rest of my life. But, speaking of my daughter, I often think about the news articles she will read when she is literate. And though I owe, and will owe for the rest of my life, I only owe for my actions.

My failings with Twigs are fundamental and real, but they are not the narrative that has been presented. There is a time and a place to deal with such things, and I am trying to navigate a nuanced situation with respect for her and the truth, hence my silence. But this situation with your film and my “firing” will never have a court date with which to deal with the facts. If lies are repeated enough in the public they become truth. And so, it makes it that much harder for me to crawl out of the hole I have dug with my behaviors, to be able to provide for my family.

Firing me never took place, Olivia. And while I fully understand the attractiveness of pushing that story because of the current social landscape, the social currency that brings. It is not the truth. So I am humbly asking, as a person with an eye toward making things right, that you correct the narrative as best you can. I hope none of this negatively effects you, and that your film is successful in all the ways you want it to be.

Every Blessing To You,

Shia