Shia LaBeouf Takes to the Skies to Apologize for Plagiarism

Shia LaBeouf wants the world — or at least the Los Angeles metropolitan area — to know that he's sorry he plagiarized well-known graphic novelist Daniel Clowes.

The 27-year-old tweeted a photo of a skywritten message that he apparently commissioned over L.A. — it was visible from parts of Hollywood, Glendale, Studio City, Silverlake, and Pasadena, where the famed Rose Bowl was taking place — on New Year's Day.

"I am sorry Daniel Clowes," was the message, which could be read as clear as day. What was, um, cloudier was his accompanying tweet about transparency and sharing data.

World Wide Sky Advertising tweeted that they were hired to display the apology from LaBeouf to Clowes. The message spanned 5 miles, prompting the company to note, "That's a big SORRY!"

[Related: The Strange Saga of Shia LaBeouf's Latest Plagiarism Scandal]

Many Los Angeles residents also tweeted photos of LeBeouf's message, including this one imploring Clowes to forgive:

LaBeouf has been saying his "big sorry" for weeks now after it was revealed that his short film "HowardCantour.com" was largely lifted from the graphic novelist's 2007 comic book "Justin M. Damiano." However, his sincerity has been in question because when the movie star initially apologized for using the "Ghost World" artist's work as the basis for his short film, he plagiarized that apology, too. It came from a response to a Yahoo Answers question that was posted four years earlier. (Earlier this year, LaBeouf also plagiarized an apology to Alec Baldwin from Esquire's 2009 "How to Be a Man" issue.)

Clowes's publisher, Fantagraphics, previously told Publishers Weekly that Clowes is "exploring all legal options." No word on whether LaBeouf's public apology changes that.

In the days leading up to the skywritten sorry, LaBeouf tweeted out several more apologies to Clowes, at least one a day, including these (parts of which have reportedly been lifted as well):

LaBeouf also shared his New Year's resolution:

Perhaps being less of a controversial tweeter isn't the only thing he needs to work on?