Shia LaBeouf just can't come out with a project these days without stirring up a bit of controversy. Whether it's with Alec Baldwin on Broadway or Brad Pitt on the set of Fury, it seems as though he's constantly angering someone when it comes to his craft. Today, that someone is Ghost World artist Daniel Clowes.

Although his short film HowardCantour.com - which stars Jim Gaffigan - already premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, it was its online unveiling yesterday that allowed people to take notice and quickly thereafter become outraged over its blatant plagiarism of Clowes' 2007 comic Justin M. Damiano.

“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," Clowes said.

As the internet increasingly came to defend Clowes' honor and condemn LaBeouf's plagiarism, the Nymphomaniac star eventually apologized via Twitter: "Copying isn't particularly creative work. Being inspired by someone else's idea to produce something new and different IS creative work... In my excitement and naiveté as an amateur filmmaker, I got lost in the creative process and neglected to follow proper accreditation... Im embarrassed that I failed to credit @danielclowes for his original graphic novella Justin M. Damiano, which served as my inspiration... I was truly moved by his piece of work & I knew that it would make a poignant & relevant short. I apologize to all who assumed I wrote it... I deeply regret the manner in which these events have unfolded and want @danielclowes to know that I have a great respect for his work [sic]."

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