Jared Leto. The multifaceted artist accused of sexual crimes against minors

Since the MeToo movement – ​​which aims to combat sexual harassment and assault by encouraging victims to report their cases – gained momentum in 2017, more and more artists have been disappointing their fans and going to court. We could even say that a dark cloud hangs over the artistic world of Hollywood, as few have escaped accusations of this kind. Recently, Jared Leto was also accused of sexual misconduct. Not just by one, but by 9 women.

The allegations against the Oscar-winning American actor and lead singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars came to light in an article published on Saturday by Air Mail, a website coordinated by the former editor of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter, and the former journalist for The New York Times, Alessandra Stanley. According to the article written by Elena Clavarino, the 53-year-old artist known for his roles in films such as Fight Club, Life Is Not a Dream, Dallas Cowboys and Suicide Squad, has been engaging in inappropriate behavior with women, including minors, for years.

In fact, the allegations against the fellow musician first surfaced last month, when DJ Allie Teilz shared an old Facebook post, written in 2012, on Instagram. “You’re not really in LA until Jared Leto tries to hit on you backstage (…) I was assaulted and traumatized by this asshole when I was 17,” she wrote. In another post, she added: “He knew my age and didn’t care. What he did was predatory, appalling and unacceptable.”

The accusations against Jared

The allegations in the Air Mail piece date back to the early 2000s. One woman called it an "open secret" that Leto sent sexually explicit text messages to teenage models.

Another told the same publication that in 2006, when she was just 16, the actor approached her outside a cafe in Los Angeles. According to her, the artist was sitting with fellow actress Ashley Olsen – who was 19 at the time and with whom he was having an affair – and grabbed her arm. “I looked down and it was Jared Leto (…) We had a quick conversation and he got my number,” she admitted. A few days later, she claims, Leto called her at home: “I don’t know if he was on drugs or what… It was the weirdest, most disgusting voice (…) But to me, it was Jared, you know?”, she explained. In the following days, he began to call frequently, always around three in the morning. “The conversations turned sexual,” she continued.

In turn, model Laura La Rue decided to “come forward”, coming forward with similar allegations, saying that when she was 16, in 2008, she was at an event at a private residence in Beverly Hills, where Leto “watched her intensely”. “He asked me how old I was. I said, ‘I’m 16. How old are you?’”, she told Air Mail. Leto was 36 at the time and asked for her phone number. The conversations began by email and La Rue says that she visited Leto in April 2009, at his home. “I remember him teasing me the whole time I was there (…) He would come closer and then move away, as if it were a game”, claims the model who left Hollywood to live in a van with her baby daughter and who shows her fans, through her YouTube channel, her sustainable lifestyle.

Furthermore, she continues, on another visit, when she was already 17 years old, the model claims that Leto came out of a room completely naked. «He just walked out, as if it was normal… I thought maybe that's what grown men do», she said.

Another woman claims she was approached by the actor's personal assistant at a nightclub for 18- to 21-year-olds. She was 20 at the time. According to the woman, she ended up getting involved with Leto. "We hung out a few times at his house, but it was weird," she said.

Another woman told Air Mail that she began exchanging text messages with the musician when she was still a minor, claiming that he would ask her “inappropriate” questions when he visited her home: “Do any of these boyfriends you’re dating have sex with you?”, for example. She also alleged that once – when she was 18 – Leto “suddenly pulled out his penis and started masturbating”. “He came over, grabbed my hand and put it on him”, she said, adding that the act was followed by perverse requests.

The article also denounces parties that allegedly took place at Jared Leto's house, for which "young women and teenagers were recruited." One of the girls who allegedly attended shared: "I was 18 the first time I went and I was definitely not the youngest person there (...)". Another woman said that the actor kept a low profile, "sober, meticulous and always in control."

A representative for Leto has “expressly denied” the multiple allegations, saying they were “demonstrably false.” Referring to Laura La Rue’s, the representative told Air Mail that the communications between the two “contained nothing sexual or inappropriate” and that the model “later applied for a position as Mr. Leto’s personal assistant,” which “further supports the absence of inappropriate behavior.” However, La Rue denies ever applying for the position.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that criticism of his behavior is recent. Similar allegations have been circulating since 2005. That year, The New York Post shared a story with the headline: “Jared Leto likes them young” after he was spotted with actresses Olsen and Lindsay Lohan. At the time, sources warned the publication that the artist had been “aggressively pursuing many of the teenage models who were at the Maritime Hotel”. 13 years later, Metro shared a Twitter post made by actor Dylan Sprouse, who is married to Hungarian model Barbara Palvin. The post read: “Yo @JaredLeto, now that you’ve gotten into the private messages of every female model 18-25, what’s your success rate?”

The past with drugs and the surrender to papers

And the truth is that, despite having already assured in several interviews that he is sober and different, Jared Leto's past was marked by drug use, lies and eccentricities. "I've lied so much that I don't even know what the truth is", he admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2016. In another interview with the Apple Music 1 radio program, the singer revealed that he has known what weed smells like since he was a child. "I remember walking past some bushes when I was in the fourth grade and smelling it (...) I told the kids I was with that someone was smoking weed. They asked me what that was", he recalled, detailing that drug use was so "normalized" that he never refused to try illicit substances. "I've always been interested in drugs, the experience, the risk", he explained. He only stopped when he realized that drugs were consuming him. Both himself and the people around him. "I had an epiphany. There were two paths I could have taken. I chose to follow one of them, but I had many close friends who didn't, they followed another and are no longer here," he lamented.

When he was little, he wanted to be a painter or a drug dealer. He ended up being an actor and a musician. He doesn't like and avoids superficial conversations, he considers himself quite simple and those who know him speak of his humility, empathy and generosity. «I'm impatient and I can manage my time very well (…) That's probably why I can multitask and achieve some of my goals», he told Men'sHealth in 2022. He always tries to find projects that he is truly passionate about. «I never go to work just for the sake of it. I have a very busy life outside of cinema (…) I think that helps me to be a little more discerning when choosing roles (…) I think that the films I make and the characters I play are often very challenging. So, when I finish a project, I need some time to recover», he explained in another conversation with The Talks. The artist has already given life to Joker, in the film Suicide Squad; to John Lennon's killer in Chapter 27, and Paolo Gucci, in the feature film House of Gucci, for example.

He eventually gained a reputation as a method actor, but a caricature, and he immersed himself so deeply in his preparation for the role of Joker that he even terrorized his co-stars by sending them used condoms, sex toys, and even dead animals. The actor remained in character throughout the filming process and has also admitted to spending time in New York and Toronto scaring people on the streets.

But he doesn't just like to shock people in the movies. Jared Leto also stands out in public appearances. At the 2019 Met Gala, for example, he carried a replica of his own head on the red carpet. "I've always believed that the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward," he told The Talks.

The passion for the arts

The artist was born on December 26, 1971, in Bossier City, Louisiana. Raised by his mother, Constance, who divorced his father when he was just two years old and married an Italian man who gave him a brother – Shannon Leto – his childhood was marked by many changes. He moved every two years, experienced several different schools, cultures and lifestyles. “I come from a visual background and grew up surrounded by a lot of hippies and artists. We moved every two years, and I went to many different schools. But creativity, for us, was always a lifestyle. It was never a job. Being an artist was a passion and a way of life”, he explained. The first instrument he learned to play was the piano and, at the age of 12, he bought his first guitar.

He began his studies at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. After that, he went to two other art schools and ended up in New York. He wanted to be a painter. However, life changed for him. He dropped out in his third year and moved to Los Angeles. “I was doing conceptual work. I really liked abstract and contemporary art. I also always loved pop art. Then I fell in love with photography and film. I also studied sculpture and explored many different things (…) But I ended up focusing on film during my third year (…) Then I dropped out because I thought I would have a better chance of making a film if I got a job as an actor first. That was one of the reasons I went west with a backpack on my back and a few hundred dollars in my pocket,” he recalled in the same interview.

And that's where it all began. In 1992, he landed small roles in two episodes of the series Camp Wilder and, two years later, he played the character Jordan Catalano in the series My So-Called Life. Although the series was canceled at the end of the first season, Jared became known nationwide. In 1995, he began his film career with a small but important role in the feature film Where Love Lies and, a year later, he played the lead in the films Fatal Betrayal and Rebel Times. Dozens of films followed and a great evolution in his dedication to work. In the 2000 film Life Is Not a Dream, in which he plays Harry, a young drug addict, for example, he lost 20 kilos. In 2007, he played John Lennon's killer Mark Chapman in the film Chapter 27, and gained almost 30 kilos, which made him suffer from gout, an inflammatory rheumatic disease caused by the deposition of uric acid crystals in the joints, leading to painful and inflammatory attacks, often requiring him to use a wheelchair because of the pain. The artist also made his directorial debut in 2012, with Artifact, under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins.

Almost a cult

As for music, it was in 1998, with his half-brother, that he created the band Thirty Seconds From Mars, which had a major impact on pop rock, particularly at the end of the 2000s, and which continues to bring hits such as Closer to the Edge, A Beautiful Lie or Kings and Queens, to various parts of the world.

The success is so great that Jared Leto and his band have even ended up founding a “cult”. In fact, they have always used the phrase “yes, this is a cult” to refer to the legion of people who follow the band’s career.

For a few years now, the group has been inviting fans – who call themselves Echelon – to a retreat in Croatia, where the singer, dressed in white robes, welcomes hundreds of admirers for a three-day music festival, complete with yoga, a pool, outdoor activities and film screenings. In the images from the event, you can see the audience all dressed in white surrounding the musician. According to the price list revealed by 'KQED', people have to pay $999 for two nights of camping, without a tent or supplies included. And everyone "fights" for Jared's attention.

In several interviews, the singer has stated that Portugal is one of the countries where the band has had the most success and recognition, and has even mentioned the country as one of the reasons why the band exists, having stated that it was in Portugal that they sold out the first major venue of their career. Thirty Seconds to Mars are scheduled to return to Portugal at the Meo Marés Vivas festival, in Gaia, on July 19th.