In his first interview since his 10-week court-ordered rehab stint, the troubled 31-year-old came clean about the root of his rage - witnessing his mother Shayna Saide's rape at age 10.
"I froze," the Daytime Emmy winner recalled in the April edition of Esquire.
Shia - who still sleeps with a gun under his pillow - overheard the assault in their Tujunga apartment, and authorities never found the rapist.
"When I got to rehab last year, they said I had PTSD," LaBeouf - whose father Jeffrey was abusive - explained.
The actor admitted: "White privilege and desperation and disaster. It came from a place of self-centered delusion. It was me trying to absolve myself of guilt for getting arrested." Photo / Police
"The first time I got arrested with a real charge, it stemmed from the same s***. Some guy bumped into my mother's car with his car in a parking lot, and my head went right to 'You need to avenge your mother!' So I went after the dude with a knife [but didn't use it]...I've always thought somebody was coming in. My whole life."
The #TAKEMEANYWHERE director hit a new low on July 8 when he repeatedly called Chatham County police officers "b****" and "w****" during his sixth arrest (for obstruction, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness) in Savannah.
"What went on in Georgia was mortifying," the American Honey actor admitted.
"White privilege and desperation and disaster. It came from a place of self-centred delusion. It was me trying to absolve myself of guilt for getting arrested. I f***ed up."
While actresses of Shia's ilk would have no career by this point, he again pleaded for forgiveness from the industry.
Actor hit a new low when he repeatedly called Chatham County police officers "b****" and "w****" during his sixth arrest. Photo / Savannah Police Department
"I'm run out. No one's giving me a shot right now," LaBeouf said.
"I've got to look at my failures in the face for a while. I need to take ownership of my s*** and clean up my side of the street a bit before I can go out there and work again, so I'm trying to stay creative and learn from my mistakes. The truth is, in my desperation, I lost the plot."
He added: "My way of running is to drink. I'm a good old-fashioned drunk - whiskey and beer - and have been since I touched alcohol."
The Savannah arrest occurred while LaBeouf was filming The Peanut Butter Falcon, which angered his co-star with Down syndrome Zack Gottsagen.
"You're already famous. This is my chance. And you're ruining it"' the 32-year-old Florida native told Shia at the time. I was angry. Mad. Frustrated. I didn't want to work with Shia anymore."
LaBeouf called the confrontation his moment of clarity, and it "changed the course of my life."
"I don't believe in God. But did I see God? Did I hear God? Through Zack, yeah. He met me with love, and at the time, love was truth, and he didn't pull punches. And I'm grateful, not even on some cheeseball s*** trying to sell a movie. In real life. That mother****er is magical. Zack allowed me to be open to help when it came"
The "metamodernist" used his rage to play tennis pro John McEnroe opposite Sverrir Gudnason's Björn Borg in Janus Metz's drama Borg McEnroe, which hits US theatres April 13.
"McEnroe was a master at his rage," the Even Stevens alum noted. "I'm a buffoon. My public outbursts are failures. They're not strategic. They're a struggling motherf***er showing his a** in front of the world."
And then there's the strange story about Shia giving equally hot-tempered rapper Kanye West 'all of his clothes' - including his Indiana Jones hat.
"The dude has a lot of my s***," LaBeouf said.
"I took my mother to his concert. She is, of course, obsessed with Kanye West. When I brought her backstage, he was a f***ing sweetheart to her. And it just felt fair. So I'm like, 'Go for it, my guy. Take everything you want.' And he did."
The admitted plagiarist added: "I f***ing love Kanye West. He's going through a lot. And I don't know where he's at or what he's doing."
And Shia once scored a recommendation letter from his Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull director Steven Spielberg - which he keeps in his safe - but he changed his mind about applying to Yale University.
