After 'The Peanut Butter Falcon' star was accused of ridiculing her son onstage at the big event, Shelly Gottsagen stresses that the actors share beautiful respect for each other.

• Feb 12, 2020

AceShowbiz - Zack Gottsagen's mum has nothing but kind words for Shia LaBeouf in the wake of claims he ridiculed her disabled son onstage at the Oscars.

Shia has been hit with criticism for apparently laughing at his "The Peanut Butter Falcon" co-star Zack, who has Down syndrome, as the pair presented the winner of the live-action short film category at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday, February 09.

However, Zack's mother Shelley is upset about the controversy, insisting there is no truth whatsoever to the mean stories.

"I would hate to see any misconception out there," she tells TooFab. "I mean, you know, Shia is just wonderful, you know, we really love him. If anything, I think they were grinning because it was hard to get the envelope open."

"We just love Shia and the respect that Shia and Zack have for each other is beautiful. Their friendship is really, really beautiful. And, you know, it just, it upset me when I thought that somebody was thinking that Shia could have ever had a kind of negative attitude 'cause he's been nothing, nothing, nothing but supportive."

Shelley wants to reframe the narrative in a positive light, insisting the historic moment between Shia and Zack at the Oscars, which was the first time an actor with Down syndrome ever presented a prize, was actually just a taste of their beautiful relationship.

"They're very tight," she insists. "They love each other, really encourage each other. Shia's been very supportive of Zack as an actor, his professionalism. He'll really seek out opportunities for Zack and did a lot with promoting the movie, you know, which, Shia always doesn't - that's not really his thing, but he did it for Zack."