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BBC doc renews claims
Four women accuse Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto of criminal sexual conduct in a new BBC documentary, with the alleged offences taking place when they were teenagers between 2002 and 2016.
“Four women have accused Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto of criminal sexual conduct”
The BBC says one woman was sexually assaulted in a motel bathroom when she was 17, another says Leto threatened her with sexual assault when she was 19 and left her alone with him in a hotel room, and a third describes under-age sex with Leto in California when she was 17.
The BBC also says a 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 and, on at least one occasion, suggested they should have sex.
Leto, who is now 54, denies the allegations, and in a statement provided to CBS News’ partner network the BBC he said: "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life. These claims are absolutely and categorically false."
Corroboration and denials
The BBC says it corroborated a number of the women’s accounts with friends and family who were told about the encounters at the time, and in some cases it also saw pictures and messages that support the women’s accounts.
Two men who worked with Leto’s band for many years 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.
One former band employee told the BBC: "I think everyone thought the age gap was way too big," as the documentary’s interviews included 10 participants, nine of whom shared their stories publicly for the first time.
Fox News Digital also reported Leto’s denial, quoting his statement: "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life. These claims are absolutely and categorically false."
What the allegations claim
In the BBC documentary, one woman identified as 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, and she describes the address she was given as a "dingy gross motel."
“"dingy gross motel"”
The BBC says Leto "shrugged off" a conversation about the age of consent being 18 in the US state of California, after a woman described having sex with Leto when she was 17 and he was 34.
The BBC also says the grooming allegation includes repeated sexually explicit phone calls when she was 16 and that she was subsequently sent a non-disclosure agreement to prevent her from talking about her relationship with Leto, which she refused to sign.
In the same BBC documentary, another woman says she was 14 when Leto instructed a security guard to take her backstage at a music festival after he made a lewd comment about her chest during an autograph-signing, and the BBC says the girl’s mother confronted Leto but he repeated the comment, it is alleged.
