Four women have accused Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto and his representatives of criminal sexual misconduct, alleging incidents occurred when they were teenagers. The allegations form part of a BBC documentary, Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret. The women say the encounters involved threats, sexual assault and grooming, with the BBC stating that the allegations relate to incidents between 2002 and 2016, when Leto was in his 30s and 40s. Leto is now 54. Hotel Bathroom AllegationsOne accuser, Isabel (not her real name), says she met Leto in Las Vegas at a hotel room arrangement in 2002, when she was 17. She alleges Leto called her into the bathroom while he showered and initiated physical contact, including using her hand for masturbation, before she tried to leave. She says she later realised he was in his 30s. A second accuser, Alex (not her real name), alleges that when she was 19 in London in the 2010s, she was drawn into a hotel room after being invited to an after-party. She says Leto threatened her with sexual assault repeatedly and told her that if she lay down on a sofa she would wake to sexual violence, before she left. Consent And Statutory Rape ClaimsA third woman, Clara (not her real name), says she had sex with Leto in California in 2006 when she was 17 and he was 34. She alleges he dismissed concerns about the age of consent and that the relationship continued through repeated visits to his home. The BBC notes that, under California law, sex with someone below the age of consent can amount to statutory rape, which may carry prison sentences. Explicit Calls, Grooming And An NDAThe fourth woman, Etta (not her real name), alleges she was groomed and abused using Leto’s celebrity status. She says Leto made repeated sexually explicit phone calls to her in 2014, when she was 16, after meeting her through a modelling agency in Los Angeles. Etta also alleges she was later sent a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) intended to prevent her speaking publicly about the relationship. She says she refused to sign. The BBC states it has seen the NDA and supporting exchanges of messages and emails. The BBC also reports accounts from four additional women who say they received sexual phone calls from Leto when they were younger, including two further allegations where the callers appeared to be Leto speaking through different identities. Backstage Comments And Additional Staff AccountsAnother account detailed in the documentary concerns a girl, who the BBC calls Taylor, who says she was 14 when Leto arranged for her to be taken backstage after making a lewd comment during an autograph signing at a music festival in 2005. The girl’s mother confronted Leto, she alleges, and says he repeated the remark. Two men who worked with Thirty Seconds to Mars for many years also describe uncomfortable interactions involving teenage girls. The BBC says they described requests to invite young female models backstage and that staff sometimes felt the age gap was significant. The documentary also includes accounts from people who say girls were brought to Leto’s dressing room or his home during band recording. In total, 10 women have spoken to the BBC documentary, and nine say they share their experiences publicly for the first time. The BBC says it has corroborated parts of the allegations with friends and family who were told about the encounters at the time, and in some cases with messages or photographs. Leto Denies AllegationsThe BBC says it made repeated attempts to contact Leto before publication but he did not respond to the allegations. In a statement to US media on Wednesday afternoon UK time, Leto said: “I have never assaulted anyone in my entire life. These claims are absolutely and categorically false.” Leto has been a prominent actor since the 1990s and won an Academy Award in 2014 for Dallas Buyers Club. Thirty Seconds to Mars, formed in 1998, is touring mainland Europe and the UK next spring, with dates including London’s O2 and Manchester’s Co-op Live. The BBC says allegations against Leto have persisted for decades and that it has counted more than 120 separate online claims about his behaviour towards women. Join the discussion? 30 July 2026
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