Jared Leto has been accused of sexual misconduct by nine women. There have been previous whispers online about the actor and Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman having an interest in young models, but last week, a report alleged ‘predatory, terrifying and unacceptable’ behaviour by Leto towards young women. Leto’s representatives have denied all the claims.

The report – published by AirMail on June 6 – alleged Leto has flirted with teenagers and held parties which young women were invited to. One woman, who was 18 at the time, also alleges he started masturbating in front of her while visiting his house.

One woman, who was 16 at the time, also claimed Leto asked for her number while she was sat outside a café in LA. Leto was reportedly visiting the café with actress Ashley Olsen, who was then 19. The woman then claims Leto later called her, with the ‘the weirdest, grossest voice’, saying ‘I don’t know if he was on drugs or what’.
(Responding to the publication, Leto’s representatives said he had been sober for over 35 years.) The woman also claimed Leto invited her to a party at his house that evening, an invite she declined, and that ‘the conversations turned sexual’. She added: ‘He’d ask things like: “Have you ever had a boyfriend? Have you ever sucked a dick?”’

Another woman alleged she started a texting relationship with Leto while she was still underage. She told the publication that when she became 18, Leto became more sexual, alleging that during one visit to his house ‘he suddenly pulled his penis out and started masturbating’. Again, a representative for Leto told the publication: ‘All of the allegations are expressly denied.’

Another woman, model Laura La Rue, also alleged Leto asked for her number at an animal rights benefit when she was 16 (Leto was 36 at the time). La Rue then says they began emailing, and that when she visited his property he was ‘flirting’ with her. A representative for Leto told AirMail: ‘Their communications contain nothing sexual or inappropriate and Ms. La Rue later applied to work as Mr. Leto’s personal assistant, further underscoring the absence of anything inappropriate in any of their interactions.’ ( LaRue told AirMail she didn’t apply to be his PA.) On another occasion at his house, when she was 17, LaRue alleged Leto walked out of a room ‘completely naked’.

AirMail also reports Leto, with the help of party organiser Bolthouse, held parties at Leto’s home in the mid-2000s, where young women were invited. One woman told AirMail: ‘I was 18 the first time I went, and I was definitely not the youngest person there.’ Another woman who attended a party told the publication Leto was ‘sober, meticulous, always in control’. A representative for Leto said: ‘There was never any recruiting, complaints, or impropriety.’

In AirMail’s report, they include a reposted Facebook 2012 status from Los Angeles-based DJ and music producer Allie Teilz, who alleged Leto had ‘force[d] himself’ on her backstage. Teliz posted on Instagram: ‘I was assaulted and traumatized by this creep when I was 17 … He knew my age and didn’t care. What he did was predatory, terrifying and unacceptable.’ A representative for Leto called her claims ‘demonstrably false’.

In 2018, it was reported by Metro that Dylan Sprouse – who is married to model Barbara Palvin – tweeted: ‘Yo @JaredLeto now that you’ve slid into the DMs of every female model aged 18–25, what would you say your success rate is?’ Director James Gunn responded: ‘He starts at 18 on the internet?’

In 2005, the New York Post alleged Leto, who was 33 at the time, was texting teen models from agencies ‘IMG, Elite, Next and Women’ who were staying at the Maritime Hotel. ‘He’s a serial texter,’ a source told the paper. ‘He is constantly texting these other 16- and 17-year-old girls. It’s really kind of creepy.’ A representative for Leto called the New York Post story ‘recycled tabloid fodder and demonstrably false.’

Leto has long been known for method acting, a technique of acting where actors sometimes remain in character when not on set. In 2016’s Suicide Squad, Leto played the Joker – and Viola Davis, who starred as Amanda Waller, said the actor introduced himself on set by sending a dead pig. ‘The henchman came in with a dead pig and plopped it on the table and then he walked out. And that was our introduction to Jared Leto,’ she told Vanity Fair. ‘Now I’m terrified just as a person thinking ‘Is he crazy? But the second part was, “Oh s**t, I’ve got to have my stuff together”. You talk about commitment. And then he sends Margot Robbie a black rat, that was still alive in a box. She screamed, and then she kept it.’