New accusations against Jared Leto: 'Sexually assaulted young girls'
A new investigation reveals testimonies from ten women regarding inappropriate sexual behavior by the actor and musician, with at least four of them claiming that Leto sexually assaulted them when they were young. 'He got away with it without paying a price,' says one of them - and the BBC reports that the number of accusations against Leto stands at over 120.
Testimonies against the Oscar winner: Actor and musician Jared Leto, winner of an Oscar for his role in the film 'Dallas Buyers Club' and lead singer of the band Thirty Seconds to Mars, is accused of sexual assault and harassment of a number of women - including minors - in an investigation published this morning (Wednesday) by the BBC, which will be broadcast in full this evening. Last summer, nine women testified about inappropriate sexual relationships Leto had with them, and of the ten women who were interviewed for the BBC film, nine are sharing their stories for the first time. Alongside other complaints published over the years online, the British broadcaster reports that they have counted over 120 different accusations against the actor.
As part of the new BBC investigation, which will be the focus this evening of the documentary 'Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret', ten complainants allege inappropriate sexual behavior by Leto - while four of them claim actual sexual assault, with some of them even being minors at the time. One complainant named Isabel (a pseudonym) describes how the Oscar winner sexually assaulted her in a motel room shower when she was 17, while forcibly kissing her and using her hand to pleasure himself while he was showering. Another, a former model named Alex, describes how Leto threatened to rape her when she was 19. Another complainant testifies that she had sexual relations with Leto in California when she was 17, i.e., below the age of consent in the state, and a fourth complainant says that he used to have phone conversations with her of an explicit sexual nature when she was 16, and in at least one case even offered to have sexual relations with her. According to the BBC, that complainant was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement that would prevent her from talking about her relationship with Leto, but she refused.
Alongside other complainants, four of whom testify that Leto held strange and often sexual phone conversations with them when they were young, all the complaints in the BBC investigation concern events that allegedly took place between 2002 and 2016. Leto, now 54, was in his 30s and 40s at the time. 'It was 25 years ago, he got away with it without paying a price,' says one of the interviewees in the film. The British broadcaster further noted that some of the testimonies were cross-referenced with friends and family members who heard about the encounters with Leto in real-time, and that in some cases the journalists themselves were exposed to photos and messages that support the women's testimonies.
In addition, two men who worked with Leto as part of Thirty Seconds to Mars say in the film that staff members felt uncomfortable with the way the actor and musician communicated with young girls. According to them, Leto sometimes used to invite those fans backstage, or to his home where he used to record the band's songs - and one of them notes that 'I believe everyone thought the age gap was too big.' Last year, when the first investigation regarding him was published in Air Mail magazine, Leto denied the allegations against him, and as of now, he and his people have yet to respond to the new complaints against him.
