Shia LaBeouf apologizes after short film called 'complete rip-off' of comic

 

Shia LaBeouf is at the center of a plagiarism controversy after graphic novelist Daniel Clowes accused the star of borrowing shamelessly from his 2007 comic, "Justin M. Damiano," for a short film directed by the "Charlie Countryman" star.

 That film, "HowardCantour.com"  which follows the inner dialogue of a disgruntled film critic — debuted last May at the Cannes Film Festival, where no one in attendance seemed to notice that the characters and dialogue had been lifted directly from Clowes' panels. But when the film debuted online on Monday, the Internet was quick to take notice.

Jacqueline Cohen, director of publicity and promotions for Fantagraphics Books, Inc., Clowes' publisher, calls the film "a complete rip-off" of "Justin M. Damiano," and says Clowes was never approached by LaBeouf to authorize the work's adaptation. "He had no knowledge that he had been plagiarized until today when the film was posted on Vimeo

As word quickly spread of LaBeouf's alleged intellectual property theft, due in part to a story on BuzzFeed, the short film was quickly blocked from view on Vimeo, its hosting site. BuzzFeed is hosting "HowardCantour.com," which stars Jim Gaffigan as a self-loathing film critic, in its entirety.

LaBeouf has apologized on Twitter for the controversy, writing in a series of tweets that his "excitement and naivete" led him to forget to "follow proper accreditation."