According to multiple sources, actor/Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women (some of whom say that they were underage when they began talking to him). Representatives for Leto have denied the allegations.
The Allegations + Leto’s Representatives’ Responses
WARNING: Graphic Content Ahead
Yesterday (June 7), Air Mail published a piece entitled “The Cult of Leto,” which features the following subtitle: “He has acted in everything from American Psycho to House of Gucci. Now Jared Leto stands accused of impropriety by nine women.”
It begins:
Six years ago this summer, Jared Leto’s followers descended on Mars Island, a private resort off the coast of Croatia. For three days, fans—many of them young women, some of them paying more than $6,499 to be there—meditated, chanted, and lounged barefoot in caftans alongside Leto, who, in addition to starring in ‘American Psycho,’ ‘Fight Club,’ ‘House of Gucci,’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049,’ is the front man of Thirty Seconds to Mars. The band called it a “spiritual retreat.” The French magazine ‘L’Officiel’ called it something else: “The Cult of Jared Leto.”
The rest of the text is locked behind a subscription paywall, but numerous other publications have reported on it.
Per The Guardian, “multiple women have accused Jared Leto of impropriety, with some calling the 53-year old actor and musician’s behavior ‘predatory, terrifying and unacceptable.’”
The Air Mail exposé specifies that nine women claim that Leto “engag[ed] in inappropriate behavior over the years, including flirting with teenagers,” with one woman saying that “back in 2006, when she was 16 years old, Leto approached her outside of a café in Los Angeles. According to the woman, Leto, who was seated with the actor Ashley Olsen, who was then 19, grabbed her arm” (via The Guardian).
“I looked down and it was Jared Leto,” she told Air Mail (via The Guardian), clarifying: “We had a quick conversation, and he got my number.” She went on to say that Leto called her home a few days later: “I don’t know if he was on drugs or what … It was the weirdest, grossest voice … [But] for me, it’s Jared, you know?” People magazine writes that the same woman remarked: “He changed – his voice, the way he talked. It scared me. That was the first time I thought, ‘Oh, my God, that’s not just in the movies.’”
However, and per Us Weekly, “a spokesperson for Leto told Air Mail that he ‘has not had a drink or used drugs in over 35 years.’”
The Guardian also states that the woman was invited to a party at Leto’s house but didn’t go, as she told Air Mail: “I didn’t even have a driver’s license.” Nevertheless, she says that he persistently called her “at one, two, three AM,” adding: “And the conversations turned sexual. He’d ask things like: ‘Have you ever had a boyfriend?’ Have you ever sucked a dick?’”
Similarly, People magazine notes that another woman “alleged that she was ‘definitely not the youngest person there’ while attending one of Leto’s parties at his home in the 2000s, when she was 18. Per [Air Mail], she also alleged that the focus of the party appeared to be getting girls to skinny dip.”
That said, People continue, “A representative for Leto told Air Mail that ‘there was never any recruiting, complaints or impropriety.’ Nightlife promoter Brent Bolthouse, who organized multiple parties at Leto’s home, told the outlet he ‘never saw anyone skinny-dipping.’”
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Model Laura La Rue spoke to Air Mail about Leto, too.
As The Guardian explains, La Rue recalled that in 2008 (when she was 16 years old and Leto was 20 years her senior), she was “at an event in a private residence in Beverly Hills where Leto was ‘watching her so intensely.’” Reportedly, he asked her about her age, and after she told him, he still asked for her phone number. They then started “an email correspondence, which eventually led to her visiting Leto’s home in April 2009.”
“I remember him teasing me the whole time . . . He was flirting with me. He’d lean in close, then pull away, like it was a game,” she told Air Mail (via The Guardian).
Furthermore, La Rue recalled that during a different visit (when she was 17 years old), Leto approached her while he was fully nude. “He just walked out, dick out, like it was a normal . . . I thought maybe this was just what adult men do,” she reflected (via The Guardian).
The Guardian also mentions that “in a statement to Air Mail, a representative of Leto said that ‘communications’ between Leto and La Rue ‘contain nothing sexual or inappropriate . . . and Ms La Rue later applied to work as Mr Leto’s personal assistant, further underscoring the absence of anything inappropriate in any of their interactions.’”
However, “Air Mail reports La Rue denying ever applying for a personal assistant role with Leto.”
These publications – among others – report that the Air Mail piece discusses several other women (including Los Angeles-based DJ/music producer Allie Teilz) who’ve made similar claims about similar interactions with Leto when they were underage.
Finally, The Guardian notes, “A representative of Leto has ‘expressly denied’ the various women’s accusations reported in Air Mail, including Teilz’s, which the representative said were ‘demonstrably false.’”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, resources are available for help. Visit the RAINN website (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) or dial 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).
Thirty Seconds to Mars’ Jared Leto Climbs the Empire State Building
That’s one way to announce a tour!
Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire
