Jared Leto denies sexual assault allegations from ten women in new BBC documentary

The BBC documentary

A new BBC documentary, 'Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret,' features ten women who accuse the Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman of sexual assault and harassment. Nine of the women speak publicly for the first time. The alleged incidents span from 2002 to 2016, when Leto was in his 30s and 40s. The 54-year-old actor did not respond to repeated requests from the BBC for comment on the specific allegations before the film aired.

The allegations

Four of the women describe criminal sexual behavior that they say occurred when they were aged 16 to 19. One, using the pseudonym Isabel, says Leto sexually assaulted her in a motel bathroom in 2002 when she was 17. A second, former model Alex, alleges that in 2013, at age 19, she was alone with Leto in a London hotel room after a party invitation; when she asked to sleep on a couch, he repeatedly made a remark she interpreted as a threat of sexual assault, prompting her to leave immediately. A third, called Clara, says she had a sexual relationship with Leto in California when she was 17 and he was 34. She recalls that they had discussed the state's age of consent being 18, and that Leto appeared unconcerned. A fourth, Eta, says Leto contacted her through a Los Angeles modeling agency when she was 16, and that their communications quickly became sexual, including repeated obscene phone calls and a marriage proposal. She says she was later sent a non-disclosure agreement that she refused to sign.

Other women in the documentary describe receiving strange and often sexual phone calls from Leto when they were younger. One says that at age 14, after Leto made a lewd comment about her chest while signing an autograph, a security guard was instructed to take her backstage at a music festival.

Leto's denial

Through his representatives, Leto issued a statement on 29 July denying all accusations.

“I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life.”

“These claims are absolutely and categorically false.”

Previous allegations

The BBC documentary is not the first time such claims have surfaced. Last year, the American magazine Air Mail published accounts from women who accused Leto of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. He denied those allegations at the time as well.