Shia LaBeouf says he was raped. Aimee Cliff interviews the actor, who makes a shocking claim:

Aimee Cliff:

What kinds of connections did you form with people during #IAMSORRY? (An event in February, in which LaBeouf silently met members of the public one by one for five days in an LA gallery.)

He replies:

One woman who came with her boyfriend, who was outside the door when this happened, whipped my legs for ten minutes and then stripped my clothing and proceeded to rape me… There were hundreds of people in line when she walked out with dishevelled hair and smudged lipstick. It was no good, not just for me but her man as well. On top of that my girl was in line to see me, because it was Valentine’s Day and I was living in the gallery for the duration of the event – we were separated for five days, no communication. So it really hurt her as well, as I guess the news of it travelled through the line. When she came in she asked for an explanation, and I couldn’t speak, so we both sat with this unexplained trauma silently. It was painful.

Given the ‘zero tolerance’ approach to sexual assault on US campuses and fierce reactions to allegations that Bill Cosby raped women, LaBeouf’s claim should garner untold sympathy.

Right?

Wrong.

Piers Morgan has an opinion:

So. The famous man’s claim is discounted as a fantasy and a stunt. But the women (some of whom are famous) who claim they were raped by famous man Bill Cosby are treated as victims? As Morgan said of that:

Trials by media of the kind that Cosby is now experiencing, especially in the hyperbolic, unfiltered new media world of Twitter and Facebook, are rarely fair or accurate.
But nor can they be brushed off with a few dismissive lines from a lawyer and total silence from the accused man himself.

And he tweeted:

Surely rape is a terrible crime whoever the alleged victim is?