Although the actress directed a video for Rainey Qualley, which features her sister Margaret Qualley and LaBeouf, the actor submitted his own version and requested that his version be used.
On October 23, actress and singer Rainey Qualley, also known as Rainsford, announced on Instagram that she and a team of collaborators made a “choreographed short film” starring her sister Margaret Qualley alongside Shia LaBeouf.
The NSFW video clip was for their single, “Love Me Like You Hate Me”, and featured the two actors – now reportedly dating in real life – acting as a couple while engaging in a series of intimate to explosive scenes. “It’s full of love, pain, tenderness, anger and real pieces of my heart,” wrote Rainsford, who scored a team that included choreographers JA (a collective with Jordan Johnson and Aidan Carberry), filmmaker Natasha Braier and producer Luke Turner, the latter is an artist and a frequent contributor to LaBeouf. Rainsford also included a “special thanks to Olivia Wilde”.
Sources count The Hollywood Reporter that the reason she chose Wilde was that she actually directed the project and agreed to do it as a favor to the sisters, specifically Margaret Qualley, with whom she previously worked while directing the short film Wake up. After ending the production of “Love Me Like You Hate Me”, Wilde had a certain amount of time to finish his version of the video. Before that period expired, LaBeouf sent his own cut of the video he worked on in partnership with Turner.
He sent the cut in a group email to which Wilde replied that he would be happy to take a look and send the cut soon. The reply was apparently not well received by LaBeouf, who replied again suggesting that the correct answer would have been to write a thank you and that “we should continue with this” in reference to what he sent. According to a source who saw the email, he also wrote: “Great jazz musicians know when not to play.”
At that point, Wilde left the project (writing back, “I’m out”) and his name was removed from the music video because of what some consider LaBeouf’s unprofessional behavior. By official credits on IMDb Pro, Turner is listed as the video’s director. The disagreement in “Love Me Like You Hate Me” was widened because LaBeouf had already been fired in Wilde’s film Do not worry, dear. As reported by Variety, LaBeouf was headbanging with others in that film during pre-production, so Wilde removed him due to a “policy of banning idiots” in his projects. LaBeouf was replaced by Harry Styles, with whom Wilde was photographed hand in hand while attending the wedding of music entrepreneur Jeffrey Azoff.
LaBeouf’s behavior on and off the set has been the focus of many online conversations in recent weeks after his ex-girlfriend, singer FKA Twigs, filed a lawsuit against LaBeouf in Los Angeles alleging sexual assault, aggression and the infliction of emotional distress . Representatives for Wilde, LaBeouf and Rainey Qualley could not be reached for comment.
A version of this story first appeared in the January 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.