Latest news with #Transformers'
Associated Press
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
FKA Twigs agrees to settle lawsuit alleging abuse from Shia LaBeouf
LOS ANGELES (AP) — FKA Twigs and Shia LaBeouf have agreed to settle her lawsuit alleging LaBeouf was physically and emotionally abusive to her during their relationship. An attorney for the 37-year-old English singer and actor FKA Twigs, whose legal name is Tahliah Barnett, filed a request in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to dismiss her case against the 39-year-old American actor with prejudice, meaning it can't be filed again. 'Committed to forging a constructive path forward, we have agreed to settle our case out of court,' the two said in a joint statement issued Tuesday by their attorneys. 'While the details of the settlement will remain private, we wish each other personal happiness, professional success and peace in the future.' First filed in 2020, the case had several trial dates scheduled in the years since, but those were always delayed well in advance. The two met and became a couple in 2018 after Barnett was cast in a supporting role in 'Honey Boy,' an autobiographical film about LaBeouf's upbringing as a child actor. After an early 'charm offensive' from LaBeouf, the relationship became a 'living nightmare,' her lawsuit said. She said LaBeouf put her in a constant state of fear and humiliation, once slammed her into a car, tried to strangle her and knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease. She said he also isolated her from family and friends, demanded absolute fealty and was angrily jealous of everyone from waiters she'd been polite with to her ex-fiancé Robert Pattinson. She said that her experience was part of a pattern for LaBeouf. 'Shia LaBeouf hurts women,' the suit said. 'He uses them. He abuses them, both physically and mentally. He is dangerous.' LaBeouf said in a statement just after the lawsuit was filed that he had 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.' But he denied the accusations in the lawsuit in a 2021 filing, saying any injuries done or damages incurred by Barnett were not his doing. LaBeouf is best known for his roles in 2007′s 'Transformers' and in 2008′s 'Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.' He also starred in the 2019 film 'The Peanut Butter Falcon' and in last year's 'Megalopolis.' Known for her genre-bending musical styles, FKA Twigs worked as a backup dancer for other artists before releasing her studio debut, 'LP1,' in 2014. She followed it with 2019's Magdalene and 'Eusexua' from earlier this year. As an actor, she appeared in 2024's 'The Crow.'
NBC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
FKA twigs drops lawsuit against ex-Shia LaBeouf that alleged sexual and physical abuse
Singer FKA twigs has dropped a lawsuit she filed against her ex Shia LaBeouf that accused the actor of physical, mental and sexual abuse. The British singer, born Tahliah Debrett Barnett, had filed the case back in December 2020 in Los Angeles Super Court. The duo had a relationship that lasted just under a year. On July 18, FKA twigs filed a request for dismissal, according to the court docket. The request sought the complaint be dismissed with prejudice. FKA twigs' attorney, Bryan Freedman, and LeBeouf's attorney, Shawn Holley, said in a joint statement the case was settled out of court. 'Committed to forging a constructive path forward, we have agreed to settle our case out of court," the statement said. "While the details of the settlement will remain private, we wish each other personal happiness, professional success and peace in the future.' The 2020 suit accused LaBeouf of 'relentless abuse,' including choking her, throwing her against a car on Valentine's Day in 2019, and knowingly giving her a sexually transmitted disease. At the time of the suit, LaBeouf told the New York Times, 'I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations.' '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,' he added. The 'Transformers' star had made headlines in the past for his volatile behavior. In 2014 he was charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and harassment after disrupting a Broadway play, according to The Associated Press. He eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. In 2017, he went on a racist tirade against Georgia police officers arresting him for public drunkenness, the AP reported. He subsequently pleaded guilty to obstruction and was placed on a year's probation. The public drunkenness allegation was dropped.
New York Post
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Josh Duhamel reacts to Seth Rogen using him as a joke in ‘The Studio': ‘You'd think they would have called me'
They transformed him, and he's not pleased. 'Transformers' star Josh Duhamel was surprised to learn that he was used as a plot point on Seth Rogen's AppleTV+ comedy, 'The Studio.' 'There's a whole episode with me being cast as the Kool-Aid Guy,' Duhamel said during a recent appearance on the 'Inside of You' podcast. Duhamel, 52 added, 'Yeah, it's cool, I love Rogen and all them. But you'd think they would have called me and said like, 'Hey, do you mind if we use your name and likeness for this?' Or at least, 'How do you pronounce your name?' Because they pronounced it wrong.' 8 Josh Duhamel on the 'Inside of You' podcast. Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum/Youtube 8 Seth Rogen on 'The Studio.' Apple+ The 'Ransom Canyon' actor explained that they pronounced it 'do-HAH-mull.' Podcast host Michael Rosenbaum speculated that 'they did that as a joke, though.' Duhamel replied: 'They might have. Maybe.' 8 Josh Duhamel attends the Men's Health Lab on June 12, 2025 in New York City. Getty Images for Hearst Magazines In 'The Studio,' which Rogen created and also stars in, he plays Matt, a movie studio exec who must compromise his values in order to succeed in Hollywood. This involves making a movie based on Kool Aid, to cash in on the 'Barbie' movie trend. He'd rather do more artsy faire, but his boss, Griffin, is demanding a Kool Aid movie. In the world of the show, they discuss Duhamel in it. 'I don't care,' Duhamel clarified. 'I'm kind of flattered by it.' 8 Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, Seth Rogen on 'The Studio.' Apple+ 8 The Kool Aid man. Hallmark In the show, they discuss whether it would be offensive for Ice Cube to play the Kool Aid man. Unlike Duhamel, Ice Cube is in 'The Studio.' Rogen told People that he was 'petrified' when he approached the actor-rapper to appear on the show. He said his Zoom meeting was 'very reflective of the joke in the show [itself], where I'm trying to not be offensive and I'm trying to explain my creative position.' In the world of the show, Duhamel's role is recast with Don Cheadle in the role. 8 Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, Kathryn Hahn, and Seth Rogen on 'The Studio.' Apple+ Duhamel is best known for action movies like 'Transformers.' In April, he talked about moving away from Hollywood to live in his native North Dakota and filming the Netflix romance cowboys series 'Ransom Canyon.' Duhamel has two sons: 11-year-old Axl, who he shares with his ex-wife, singer Fergie, 50 (who he was married to from 2009 to 2019) and 1-year-old son Shepherd, who he welcomed with his current wife, former beauty queen Audra Mari, 31. They tied the knot in 2022. The actor relates to his 'Ransom Canyon' characters' emphasis on family legacy. 'I have done that, with this property that I have back home in North Dakota,' he explained. 'For me, the idea of family is making memories, bringing people together. And, passing it on is really important.' 8 Josh Duhamel with his wife, Audra Mari, and two sons, in a 2024 Instagram photo. audramari/Instagram 8 Josh Duhamel and his wife, Audra Mari, in an Instagram selfie from Feb. 2025. joshduhamel/Instagram He described his home as being a cabin in the woods on a lake, '40 miles from anything.' 'It's pretty remote, but it's so peaceful and it's good for the soul,' he told the Post. 'It's a cabin in the woods on a lake, 40 miles from anything. It's pretty remote, but it's so peaceful and it's good for the soul.' 'I just love it out there,' he went on. 'I think there's something about reconnecting to nature and reconnecting the basics…I didn't realize I needed it, until I got out there and started building this place, and shaping it, and figuring out how we wanted to do it. There's always a project … I feel like I have purpose when I'm there.'
Mint
02-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Unicorn startup that makes ‘superhuman' robots plots path to IPO
The robots are coming, but their arrival might be welcome if artificial-intelligence unicorn startup Dexterity has its way. California-based Dexterity programs what it describes as 'superhumanoids": large industrial robots built to do physically demanding and dangerous tasks. The aim, says founder and chief executive Samir Menon, isn't to replace humans but to amplify them. 'You can try to do robotics in a way that you're replacing people or you can try to do it in a way that you're supercharging people," the 40-year-old said in a recent interview on the sidelines of the ATxSummit in Singapore. In the AI gold rush of the past years, the startup founded by Menon in 2017 has raked in millions in investment. At a $1.65 billion valuation, it's secured 'unicorn" status. Dexterity's robots, designed to operate at temperatures and altitudes unfriendly to humans, have attracted partnerships with U.S. delivery giant FedEx and Japan's Sumitomo Corp. Dexterity's robots are manufactured via partnerships with industrial veterans like Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which do the manufacturing. Its flagship offering, the Mech, is a roving, two-armed robot that can perform heavy lifting. 'They're kind of inspired by 'Transformers' and 'Pacific Rim'," Menon said, in a nod to the Hollywood blockbusters starring giant robots. Dexterity is currently fundraising and eventually wants to go public in the U.S. Humanoid companies have been pulling in major investments in recent years. According to Crunchbase, six robotics companies became new unicorns last year. This year, more have joined the ranks, including The Bot Co., a robotics company focused on household chores which Crunchbase said was valued at $2 billion though it still hasn't released a product. With profitability for Dexterity still a few years away, Menon says he is prioritizing growth for now. Getting to the IPO stage rests on stable revenue streams and scaling the company, he said. Menon's upbeat on that front, seeing a not-too-distant future where industrial robots are commonplace in places like supermarkets and airports. Market analysts agree. A recent report by Morgan Stanley projects that by 2050, the humanoids market will top $5 trillion. Over 1 billion humanoids could be in use by then, primarily in commercial and industrial settings, it said. The parcel industry, retail and e-commerce sectors are already on the verge of mass adoption, said Menon, predicting take-up by large enterprises that will be 'a great foundational step for physical AI." That doesn't necessarily have to be bad news for the labor market, he said. If robotics firms want to be non-disruptive, they will focus on making robots that are superhuman in size, strength, and can work in extreme heat and cold, said Menon, who holds a doctorate in computer science from Stanford University. 'You can build [robots] in a way that you're copying the human shape, in which case it's designed to replace a human," he said. 'It's a strategic decision. We took the decision to do robotics in a way that supercharges people." Robots can help fill market gaps, the tech CEO argues. In many developed societies, declining birthrates and longer lifespans mean shrinking workforces need to support growing retiree populations. Bain & Company estimates that by 2030, the global shortage of manufacturing workers could reach nearly 8 million, boosting the need for robots to sustain economic growth. While humanoids won't replace swaths of workers overnight, they will take a meaningful share of physical jobs as tech advances and costs fall, the consulting firm said in a report. For Menon, worker deficits mean there is a way to introduce robots in markets like the U.S., Japan and Europe 'in a non-disruptive manner." Big improvements in standards of living in certain developed markets help too, he added. 'A lot of people don't really want to do extremely low-paying, very stressful tasks."
Epoch Times
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
‘Off The Grid': Josh Duhamel as a Rambo-Oppenheimer Mash-up
R | 1h 37m | Thriller, Drama | 2025 Coming courtesy of Lionsgate, the new action thriller 'Off the Grid' stars 'Transformers' star Josh Duhamel as a guy who's got a combination of Oppenheimer's brains, MacGyver's ingenuity, and Rambo's survival skill set. Of course, he holds the fate of humanity in his hands. Greg Kinnear ('As Good as It Gets'), and Peter Stormare ('John Wick: Chapter 2') are the baddies.
