One of these characters was drawn by Daniel Clowes. So, it seems, was the other one.

Poor Shia LeBeouf. Today the Transformers star has seemingly set out on a mission to take Lars Von Trier‘s title as “most controversial person involved in Nymphomaniac.

In case you’ve been under a social media rock for the last 24 hours, here’s what happened. Well, actually, it all started a year ago, when LeBeouf screened his short “HowardCantour.com” at Cannes, where it met with positive notices.

Unfortunately, no one at Cannes seemed to realize that the tale of an Internet film critic was an unattributed adaptation of “Justin M. Damiano,” a short story by indie comics icon Daniel Clowes. However, when the short went live at its official website yesterday, a lot of people noticed – and rather quickly. What could have been a simple if embarrassing oversight was exacerbated by LeBeouf’s claims in a 2012 interview with shortoftheweek.com that “As I tried to empathize with the sort of man who might earn a living taking potshots at me and the people I’ve worked with, a small script developed.” Cue the removal of the film, and a near-immediate apology from LeBeouf via the go-to place to make public amends: Twitter.

Let’s just see how well this goes, shall we?

[View the story “Shia LeBeouf and the HowardCantour.com Twitterstorm” on Storify]

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This article appears in December 13 • 2013.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.