After announcing on Twitter, “In the light of the recent attacks against my artistic integrity, I am retiring from all public life,” Shia hired a skywriter to write the cryptic message: #StopCreating, which he also posted on Twitter, early Friday morning.

While the message itself seems a little odd, considering the vastly public announcement of his retreat from the public, Shia could be likened to Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck, if he is, in fact, pulling a stunt. Judging from his recent experience in the public life, it doesn’t seem to be a joke.

Over recent months, Shia has experienced some serious backlash and bad press regarding the issue of plagiarism. When he released a short film he made entitled “HowardCantour.com” which debuted at the May 2012 Cannes Film Festival, he then released it online, where critics immediately attacked it, labeling it a direct adaptation of Justin M. Damiano, a comic written by Ghost World creator Daniel Clowes, in 2007.

Shia LaBeouf originally denied all claims that the comparison was intentional. Critics went on to directly correlate LaBeouf’s film to the comic written by Daniel Clowes. “As well as sharing many visuals with the comic – the film quotes directly from it – even the opening narration is borrowed from the comic’s opening text.”

Clearly, there’s more to this story than meets the eye; but, usually, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The film has since been taken down and any shared versions are now case sensitive and password-protected.

LaBeouf has since apologized on Twitter saying, “In my excitement and naiveté as an amateur filmmaker, I got lost in the creative process and neglected to follow proper accreditation. I’m embarrassed that I failed to credit @danielclowes for his original graphic novella Justin M. Damiano, which served as my inspiration.”

Such a flagrant disregard for accreditation makes you wonder what Shia was thinking! Did he expect filmmakers not to notice? Or, if it became largely successful, would nobody say anything? It’s hard to tell just what the 27-year-old actor was thinking when he decided to make that choice, for months and months. Making a movie takes a long time and finding out that you didn’t cite your source after it has been released, comes as a surprise to anyone in the entertainment industry.

Despite his claims that he is leaving the industry, Shia is set to star in the upcoming “Nymphomaniac: Volume I” and “II” and an untitled project with Brad Pitt attached.

Perhaps Shia can get himself out of this one and transform his public image!