Shia LeBeouf Claims He Wasn’t Fired From ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ & Says He Quit Due To Lack Of Rehearsal Time

As Olivia Wilde ramps up press for her upcoming sophomore directorial effort “Don’t Worry Darling,” starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles—and co-starring Wilde herself—the actor/director has asked to relitigate the origins of the film and her claims that Shia LaBeouf was let go from the film. In a Variety interview this week, while Wilde did not use the word “fired” when asked about the behind-the-scenes LaBeouf drama, the director suggested the actor was let go to “protect her crew.” Variety previously released a December 2020 piece outlining the story, explaining through unnamed sources that LaBeouf was let go because of a “zero asshole policy.”

Now, LaBeouf himself is pushing back on those allegations, claiming that he was not fired from the film but quit because there would not be a rehearsal period given to the actors involved.

READ MORE: Olivia Wilde Reportedly Fired Shia LaBeouf Before ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Filming “To Protect” Her Cast & Crew

In an email sent to many press outlets, including The Playlist, the actor wrote, “I was never fired from ‘Don’t Worry Darling.’ I quit the film due to a lack of rehearsal time. The narrative circulating is false and traducing. I have included my correspondence and documentation below.”

While the documentation LaBeouf provides is out of context and difficult to verify, in part, it includes a video message Wilde personally sent to LaBeouf asking the actor to reconsider the movie and suggesting they could find a way to make it work.

In the email sent to press, LaBeouf included an email he wrote to Wilde that references that same video. It reads in the beginning, “I quit your film officially on the 17th. This video you sent on the 19th tells a different story.”

In the personal video LaBeouf shared, Wilde is seen asking LaBeouf to reconsider leaving the film, suggesting they would work out their issues. The video from there speaks to some drama between the actors, seemingly LaBeouf and Florence Pugh, who is referred to as “Ms. Flo.”

“Firing me never took place, Olivia,” LaBeouf continues in the email. “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.”

“You and I both know the reasons for my exit,” he continued in another section of his email to Wilde. “I quit your film because your actors and I couldn’t find time to rehearse.”

LaBeouf also shared supposed screenshot text correspondence with several people—though again, out of context, clipped, and the veracity of these images has not been confirmed. One text is to Wilde apologizing for having to drop out of the film. Another text is to Toby Emmerich, then chairman of Warner Bros., again apologizing for having to drop out of the film. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make Don’t Worry Darling work,” LaBeouf writes. “Don’t think less of me, I’m just into a different process of what’s on offer there.”

No piece of personal correspondence LaBeouf shared mentions rehearsals at all.

“I say this as someone who is such an admirer of his work,” Wilde said earlier this week about LaBeouf and their parting in the aforementioned Variety cover story. “His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions. 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.”

Representatives for Olivia Wilde and Warner Bros. declined to comment on this story. Below is the full email that LaBeouf sent to Wilde.

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

Update: The video in question has leaked, it’s everywhere now and you can see it for yourself.