A bombshell new BBC documentary titled *Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret* has brought forward explosive new allegations of criminal sexual misconduct against Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto, with 10 women sharing accounts of abuse spanning 14 years, nine speaking publicly for the first time. All alleged encounters occurred between 2002 and 2016, when Leto was between 30 and 44 years old; the now 54-year-old star has not responded to multiple requests for comment from the BBC on the claims.
Four of the 10 contributors have leveled accusations of criminal sexual conduct, all stating they were teenagers when the alleged offenses took place. One woman, identified only by the pseudonym Isabel, described a 2002 assault in a Las Vegas motel bathroom. Then 17, Isabel had shown Leto and his friends around the retail store where she worked, and agreed to meet him at what she described as a run-down motel expecting to join a group outing. When Leto called her into the bathroom while he showered, he assaulted her, Isabel told the documentary. She pulled away immediately and asked to leave, and Leto let her exit only after checking to see if anyone was outside the room. For decades, Isabel blamed herself for the encounter, saying she spent most of her life labeling herself as “a stupid girl” for trusting Leto. She only recently let go of this self-blame, she added.
A second accuser, former model Alex, detailed a 2013 incident at a London hotel when she was 19. Alex told the BBC that Leto’s crew regularly solicited local modeling agencies for young female models to offer free VIP tickets and backstage access, a request that came directly from Leto, according to a former long-time crew member. Alex’s agency was invited to Leto’s O2 Arena concert that year, and she was lured to a private after-party at a nearby hotel, where she found only Leto waiting in the dark room. When she asked to borrow a charger or for cash to get home, Leto refused. When she asked if she could sleep on the room’s chaise longue, Leto repeatedly threatened her with sexual assault, saying she would “wake up with a dick in her ass.” Alex said she immediately fled the room, and only recently came to terms with her belief that the encounter was pre-planned, with Leto’s assistant aware of the plan to lure her there.
The third criminal allegation comes from a woman named Clara, who says she had statutory sexual contact with Leto at his California home in 2006, when she was 17 and Leto was 34. California sets the age of consent at 18, meaning any sexual contact with a 17-year-old constitutes the criminal offense of statutory rape. Clara told the documentary that an associate of Leto’s approached her backstage at a Thirty Seconds to Mars concert to get her phone number on the musician’s behalf. When she visited Leto’s home, he pressured her to refer to him as “daddy” and frame her as a minor in their interactions. Clara recalled a conversation where she brought up California’s age of consent law, and Leto simply shrugged off the issue, showing no concern for the legal violation. She told the BBC she was deeply naive and vulnerable as a teenager, and only came to understand how abusive and inappropriate the interaction was as she got older. “There is no well-adjusted man in his 30s who’s going to look at a teenager and think… she would be a great partner,” Clara said.
The fourth core accuser, Etta (also a pseudonym, now speaking publicly for the first time), alleges that Leto groomed her starting when she was 16 years old. Etta met Leto in 2014 at a Los Angeles modeling agency, where he offered to send her and her mother an invite to his Oscar party after taking an interest in her modeling ambitions. What started as professional outreach quickly shifted to inappropriate sexual communication: Etta said Leto began making repeated sexually explicit phone calls, asking her explicit questions including whether she was a virgin and what sexual kinks she had, and at one point directly suggested the pair have sex. Too young to confidently set boundaries, Etta said she felt constant anxiety and discomfort during the calls. Leto later asked for her number to pass to a friend called “Christian”, who Etta says repeatedly pressured her to shoot porn, saying it did not matter she was underage. Etta told the BBC she would not be surprised if “Christian” was actually Leto using an alias – a suspicion shared by two other women who received similar inappropriate calls. In 2016, Leto sent Etta a non-disclosure agreement to silence her about their interactions, which the BBC has obtained. Etta refused to sign the document.
In addition to the four core criminal allegations, six more women shared their own accounts of inappropriate behavior. One, named Taylor, says Leto made a lewd comment about her 14-year-old body when she asked for an autograph at a 2005 music festival. Leto signed her T-shirt directly across her breasts, commented on her chest with a crude term, and ordered his security guard to take her backstage without asking if she wanted to go. When Taylor’s mother confronted Leto over the comment, he repeated it openly, showing no remorse. Taylor said the traumatic encounter changed her life completely, and stopped her from attending live concerts entirely.
Two former long-time crew members for Thirty Seconds to Mars corroborated the pattern of behavior alleged by the women. One former staffer, identified as Brad, confirmed that Leto directly ordered him to solicit only young female models from local agencies for VIP tickets and backstage access, a request he described as uncomfortable. He added that Leto regularly invited teenage fans on stage for closing songs, then instructed crew to send them back to his dressing room after the performance. A second former staffer, Simon, said he saw an average of two young women visit Leto daily at the rental home where the band was recording one album.
The BBC has verified multiple elements of the accusers’ accounts, confirming that many told friends or family members about the encounters immediately after they happened, and obtained physical evidence including text messages, photos, and the NDA sent to Etta that supports the women’s claims.
Allegations of inappropriate behavior toward young women have followed Leto for decades, with the BBC counting more than 120 separate public online allegations of misconduct spanning decades. Public claims reignited last year when Los Angeles DJ Allie Teilz shared her own account of assault at age 17 on social media, prompting other women to come forward. Nine women also shared accusations of sexual impropriety with U.S. outlet Air Mail last year, which Leto denied at the time.
Leto has been one of Hollywood’s most prominent A-list stars since the 1990s, winning the 2014 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in *Dallas Buyers Club*, and appearing in major blockbusters including *Fight Club*, *Blade Runner 2049*, and *Suicide Squad*. His multi-platinum rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, formed in 1998, is scheduled to tour the U.K. and mainland Europe next spring, including high-profile stops at London’s O2 Arena and Manchester’s Co-op Live arena. The BBC did not receive any comment from Leto or his representatives despite repeated outreach to address the new allegations.
