Date: 17th December 2013

Shia LaBeouf in plagiarism row.


Shia LaBeouf has been forced into an embarrassing apology after being accused of plagiarism in his latest short film.

'HowardCantour.com', directed by LaBeouf, was launched online yesterday, but it was quickly noted that it bore startling resemblances to a 2007 comic called 'Justin M. Damiano', by revered writer and artist Daniel Clowes.

The film actually debuted last May at the Cannes Film Festival, but it was only when it emerged on the video streaming site Vimeo yesterday that fans of Clowes noted distinct similarities.

Eric Reynolds, an editor of Clowes' work, has called the film 'shameless theft', and now Clowes himself has weighed in too.

He told BuzzFeed: "The first I ever heard of the film was this morning when someone sent me a link. I’ve never spoken to or met Mr. LaBeouf."

"I’ve never even seen one of his films that I can recall - and I was shocked, to say the least, when I saw that he took the script and even many of the visuals from a very personal story I did six or seven years ago and passed it off as his own work."

"I actually can’t imagine what was going through his mind."

Source: Press Release