Billboard Women in Music 2025
Leo Lewis O’Neil’s documentary “Slauson Rec” chronicles the rise and fall of a free acting school Shia LaBeouf started at the Slauson Recreation Center in Los Angeles in 2018. O’Neil spoke for the first time to Vanity Fair about the project, which was pulled together from 800 hours of footage and reportedly includes scenes of LaBeouf’s physical violence towards members of the experimental theater collective.
LaBeouf announced the theater collective to the public on Twitter in a September 2018 video post: “You don’t have to be an actor; you don’t have to ever have thought about being an actor. You do, however, have to have a story that you’re willing to share. All I ask of you is that you show up for one hour and stay for one hour. If you don’t like it, leave; if you do like it, I’ll be there next Saturday. I’ll be there every Saturday at 9:00 a.m., building shit with whoever shows up. I’m trying to change the world.”
O’Neil showed up to LaBeouf’s first class with a video camera and told Vanity Fair the actor asked if he would film everything that took place at Slauson. O’Neil did just that over the next few years until the school was disbanded in November 2020 amid the COVID pandemic. Per Vanity Fair: “O’Neil captured multiple instances of LaBeouf initiating physical altercations, several of which made the final cut of his movie.”
An incident that is included in the final version of the documentary shows LaBeouf allegedly getting physical with an acting student named Zeke. Footage shows LaBeouf “pounding his fist on a foldout table” and yelling at Zeke: “I don’t give a fuck what you say to me… You’ve got it better than I ever had it. What the fuck is the attitude problem? ’m giving you everything I have, so stop fucking with me.”
Per Vanity Fair: “[LaBeouf] walks away, then circles back again — and this time, he shoves Zeke toward a wall, tightly wrapping his arms around Zeke before threateningly whispering in his ear. At last, onlookers restrain LaBeouf, who gets in his truck, hits the gas, and drives off. ‘All that was fucked up,’ Zeke reflects later over FaceTime. ‘People let him get away with it.’ He reveals scratches and bruises all over his body. ‘What kind of mentor does that?’”
LaBeouf was sued by singer FKA Twigs for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress a month after the school was disbanded. Given the footage in his documentary, O’Neil said he sent LaBeouf a trailer for the project seeking his sign-off on it. The director told Vanity Fair that LaBeouf gave his full blessing for the movie to be made without any editorializing on his behalf; thus, scenes of alleged physical violence remain in the final cut.
“He’s basically just being like, ‘You do what you need to do,’” O’Neil said. “It shows a lot that he is willing to have this be out in the world and not try to stop it. He had every reason and possibility to stop it. … He’s one of the most vulnerable artists I’ve ever seen.”
LaBeouf gave the following statement to Vanity Fair: “I gave Leo this camera and encouraged him to share his vision and his personal experience without edit. I am aware of the doc and fully support the release of the film. While my teaching methods may be unconventional for some, I am proud of the incredible accomplishments that these kids achieved. Together we turned a drama class into an acting company. I wish only good things for Leo and everyone who was part of The Slauson Rec Company.”
When asked if he considered LaBeouf’s leadership of the acting collective to be abusive, O’Neil answered: “I don’t disagree with that word. I don’t want to deny the fact that it was, but I think because that word is such a trigger word — people pop on that word so fast. But yeah, it was fucked up. Hurt people hurt people, it’s very true — and he’s a very hurt person.”
According to O’Neil, LaBeouf has been sent a screening link to view the full documentary.
