BBC News
· collected 2026-07-30 · by Jessica Sartenaer, Alice McShane, Mike Radford, Kirstie Brewer
- Published
Warning: Contains graphic details of alleged sexual offences and misconduct, as well as strong language
Four women have accused Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto of criminal sexual conduct, with the alleged offences having taken place when they were teenagers.
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they → publish → place
One of the women says she was sexually assaulted in a motel bathroom when she was 17.
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she → say → bathroom
Another says the Hollywood star threatened her with sexual assault when she was 19, and had been unexpectedly left alone with him in a hotel room.
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she → say → room
A third describes how she had under-age sex with the star in California when she was 17 - which would be classified as statutory rape.
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which → describe → rape
Leto "shrugged off" a conversation about the age of consent being 18 in the US state, she says.
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she → shrug → state
The fourth woman describes being groomed by Leto, saying he abused his celebrity status by making repeated sexually explicit phone calls to her when she was 16.
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she → describe → her
On at least one occasion, she says he suggested they should have sex.
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they → say → sex
She was subsequently sent a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to prevent her from talking about her relationship with Leto, which the BBC has seen.
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BBC → send → which
However, she refused to sign.
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she → refuse → ?
Four further women also say they received strange and often very sexual phone calls from Leto when they were younger.
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they → say → Leto
Another woman says, when she was 14, he instructed a security guard to take her backstage at a music festival after having made a lewd comment about her chest during an autograph-signing.
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he → say → signing
The girl's mother confronted Leto, but he repeated the comment, it is alleged.
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it → confront → comment
In total, 10 women have spoken to the BBC documentary - Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret - with nine of them sharing their stories publicly for the first time.
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nine → speak → time
All the women say they encountered Leto between 2002 and 2016, when he was in his 30s and 40s.
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he → say → 30s
"This was 25 years ago… he has gotten away with it," says one of his alleged victims.
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one → get → victims
The BBC has corroborated a number of the women's accounts with friends and family who were told about the encounters with Leto at the time.
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who → corroborate → time
In some cases, we have also seen pictures and messages that support the women's accounts.
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that → see → accounts
Two men who worked with Leto's band for many years also told the documentary how uncomfortable staff felt about the way Leto would interact with teenage girls, sometimes inviting them backstage to his dressing room or inviting them to the house where he was recording.
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he → work → house
"I think everyone thought the age gap was way too big," one says.
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one → think → ?
Despite repeated attempts to contact Jared Leto before publication, he did not respond to the allegations put to him by the BBC.
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he → repeat → BBC
After this story was published, Leto said in a statement released by his representatives to the BBC: "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life.
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I → publish → life
Leto has been a prominent actor since the 1990s and won the 2014 Academy Award for best supporting actor for Dallas Buyers Club.
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Leto → win → Club
He has appeared in hit films such as Fight Club, Blade Runner 2049, Suicide Squad and, most recently, featured in Masters of the Universe.
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He → appear → Universe
His award-winning rock band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, was formed in 1998 and is touring mainland Europe and the UK next spring, with concerts at the O2 London and Manchester's Co-op Live arena.
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band → win → O2
Allegations against Leto have lingered for decades.
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Allegations → linger → decades
The BBC has counted more than 120 separate allegations made online relating to his behaviour towards women, some of them historical.
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some → count → them
Last year, allegations flared up again when a Los Angeles DJ named Allie Teilz posted on social media saying she had been assaulted by the actor when she was 17, prompting several other women to come forward with similar claims.
Nine women last year also accused Leto of sexual impropriety, external in an article by US media outlet Air Mail.
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women → flare → Mail
He denied all the allegations.
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He → deny → allegations
In the BBC documentary, the four women who allege criminal behaviour - Isabel, Alex, Clara and Etta - describe in detail what they say happened to them in their encounters with the star.
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they → allege → star
Now in her 40s, Isabel (not her real name) says she only recently stopped blaming herself for the sexual assault that she says took place in 2002, when she was 17.
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she → say → 2002
"Most of my life I had viewed this event as, I was a stupid girl… and so this bad thing happened."
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thing → view → event
Isabel says she agreed to meet Leto at his hotel after she had shown the actor and his friends around the Las Vegas store where she was working.
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she → say → store
The address she was given turned out to be a "dingy gross motel", but she says she presumed they would be heading out somewhere else.
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they → give → ?
Isabel says she was sitting on the bed waiting for Leto to get ready, when he called her into the bathroom so the pair could talk while he showered.
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he → say → bathroom
"I don't think there was many words exchanged and he opened the shower curtain and started kissing me," she tells the documentary.
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she → think → documentary
He then grabbed her hand and used it to masturbate himself, she says.
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she → grab → himself
Taken by surprise, the then-teenager says she pulled away and told him she wanted to leave.
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she → take → him
Putting on a towel, Leto went outside and appeared to check who was around, she says, before letting her out of the room.
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she → put → room
It was only later, she says, when she looked up the actor online, that she realised he was in his 30s.
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he → say → 30s
In the 2010s, Thirty Seconds to Mars was headlining in major international arenas, and crew working with the band would call local modelling agencies to offer female models free VIP tickets, according to one ex-crew member we are calling Brad.
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we → headline → member
…and 60 more, not listed.
