Shia LaBeouf is hoping that his First Amendment rights will help toss out an assault and defamation lawsuit against him filed by a bartender in California.
It all started after Shia reportedly referred to a bartender as an “effing racist” after the actor was cut off and refused more service.
The New York Post’s Page Six reports that Shia’s attorney is going to bat for him, saying that his client’s actions, while quote, “annoying and rude,” were still protected by his First Amendment rights to free speech. They were Shia’s opinion, and not legally defamatory.
Also, they’re arguing that Shia’s encounter would have never been recorded or even left the private establishment if he was not a famous person.
Plus, Page Six reports that Shia was threatened physically when the bartender allegedly said he’d hit him with a Grey Goose bottle.
We’ll see if the California courts cut Shia a break in the case.
