Alan Cumming reacts to Shia LaBeouf’s ‘Cabaret’ explanation

Last week, Shia LaBeouf appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and explained, as best he could, what was going through his mind when he got arrested during a performance of “Cabaret” in New York City last June. Short answer: a lot of whiskey. Monday night, it was “Cabaret” star Alan Cumming’s turn.

Cumming was on “Conan” and host Conan O’Brien couldn’t resist asking the star exactly what transpired between the two during the performance.

“We’ve all done things where we’ve been out of it and messed up,” he said. “Not everyone has to deal with it on such a worldwide scale.”

Cumming explained that LaBeouf’s energy, from the moment he entered the theater, was disruptive.

“There was an atmosphere when I went down to start the show that everyone was freaking out because there was someone who seemed to be a crazy person shouting and stuff,” Cumming said.

O’Brien described it as a “LaBeouf quality to the air.”

While LaBeouf was drinking and smoking during the performance, he also couldn’t resist becoming part of the show when Cumming walked out into the audience. As Cumming passed LaBeouf’s table, the inebriated actor reached out and slapped the star on his rear.

“He was seducing me. He was the sexiest man I’d ever seen,” LaBeouf told Kimmel last week.

Cumming, for his part, seems very ready to forgive and forget.

“He did say I was the sexiest man he’d ever seen,” Cumming said, grinning.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday