Last month, Shia LaBeouf left the Broadway play Orphans. The assumption was that it was because of beef (La-beef) with ex-co-star Alec Baldwin. Then earlier this week Baldwin responded to LaBeouf ‘s claim that “theater belongs not to the great but to the brash†by taking the young actor down a few pegs: “I can tell you that, in all honesty, I don’t think he’s in a good position to be giving interpretations of what the theater is and what the theater isn’t.†This morning, LaBeouf responded in what seems to be the only way he knows how: tweeting pictures of e-mail conversations.
Both are with “Sulyboy,†which we assume is Orphans director Daniel Sullivan. One, dated February 10, reads: “Don’t be too surprised if Alec doesn’t look up from his script much for the first few days. I suspect he’s not nearly as prepared as you are. Not unusual at all when actors have a good long rehearsal time like we have. I just don’t want it to throw you. I did a reading of another play once with Alec and about 10 minutes in I thought, ‘Oh, I guess he’s just going to read it.’â€
The other features a whole chain and is kind of nuts. First, Baldwin tells LaBeouf that he’s “so fucking tired.†To which, LaBeouf responds: “I’m a hustler. I don’t get tired. I’m 26, chief.†Baldwin doesn’t just accept that: “Listen, boy. I’m not your fuckin’ chief. You got that? Ha. Hahahahaha. Let’s go.†It’s clear that then LaBeouf forwarded this exchange to Sulyboy, the director. Sullivan’s response on February 12: “I thought it was a very good first. Even if Alec never looked up.â€
The moral of the story is this La-beef isn’t over and make sure you never e-mail anything incriminating to Shia LaBeouf ever.