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BBC doc sparks new claims
Four women have accused Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto of criminal sexual conduct in a BBC documentary, with the alleged offences taking place when they were teenagers.
“Sexual Misconduct Jared Leto facing sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women: Report The allegations were detailed in a new report from the BBC”
The BBC says one woman was sexually assaulted in a motel bathroom when she was 17, another said Leto threatened her with sexual assault when she was 19 and had been unexpectedly left alone with him in a hotel room, and a third described under-age sex with the star in California when she was 17.
The BBC also reports that a fourth woman said Leto was grooming her and abused his celebrity status by making repeated sexually explicit phone calls to her when she was 16, and that on at least one occasion he suggested they should have sex.
Leto has denied the allegations, and the BBC says it made repeated attempts to contact him for comment but he did not respond to the allegations put to him.
In his statement released through representatives, Leto said, "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life," and called the claims "absolutely and categorically false."
Accusers describe specific scenes
The BBC documentary describes a motel encounter in Las Vegas in 2002, where one accuser said she was 17 when Leto invited her to his motel room and then called her into the bathroom while he was showering.
In that account, the woman told the BBC, "I don't think there was many words exchanged, and he opened the shower curtain and started kissing me," and she said he then grabbed her hand and forced her to masturbate him.
Another accuser described an incident in London in 2013, saying she was 19 when she was threatened with sexual assault after being left alone with Leto in a hotel room.
In the BBC account, the woman said Leto told her, "Age is just a number, and, anyway, we're in Europe," after she said she was 17.
The BBC also says it saw a non-disclosure agreement that the fourth woman refused to sign, and that the documentary includes corroboration of some accounts with friends and family who were told about the encounters at the time.
Leto’s denial and wider fallout
The BBC documentary, titled "Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret," features interviews with 10 women, with nine sharing their stories publicly for the first time, and it says it corroborated some accounts with friends and family and in some cases reviewed pictures and messages.
“WARNING: This article contains details of sexual abuse”
The BBC says it counted more than 120 separate allegations made online relating to Leto’s behaviour towards women, and it notes that the documentary includes corroboration of some accounts with friends and family who were told about the encounters at the time.
Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter both describe Leto’s response through his representatives, quoting his denial that the claims are "absolutely and categorically false."
The Hollywood Reporter also says the documentary includes allegations that a woman was sent a non-disclosure agreement to prevent her from talking about her relationship with Leto, and that she refused to sign it.
CBS News reports that the BBC identified the four women as Isabel, Alex, Clara and Etta, and that CBS News has not independently corroborated the accusations while Leto’s representatives shared the same denial statement.
