The 27-year-old actor is taking a step back from the limelight just weeks after he was forced to apologise for plagiarising author Daniel Clowes' graphic novellas, Justin M. Damiano, for his short film HowardCantour.com.
The Nymphomaniac star wrote on Twitter this morning :
In light of the recent attacks against my artistic integrity, I am retiring from all public life.
He added: "My love goes out tothose who have supported me. #stopcreating." Shia failed to clarify whether he plans to stop acting completely or simply stop doing interviews and being active on his social media platforms.
The Transformers star came under fire, including from Girls'star and creator Lena Dunham, after he employed a team to write a five mile wide message in the sky above Los Angeles on New Year's Day reading "I AM SORRY DANIEL CLOWES," in an attempt to make peace for plagiarising the comic book writer's work.
Since his initial apology to Daniel, Shia has purposefully plagiarised apologies from many figures and sources in popular culture and posted them on his Twitter feed but Daniel's publisher Eric Reynolds branded them "insincere" and said the writer was "exploring his legal options".
He added: "I imagine airplane messaging is the norm in Hollywood, but someone really should have informed Mr. LaBeouf that Mr. Clowes lives in the Bay Area [in Northern California] before he went to all that trouble."
The young actor was also fired from the Broadway production Orphans last year because he couldn't get along with his co-star Alec Baldwin.
