Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto is facing allegations of criminal sexual conduct from four women who say the incidents occurred while they were teenagers. The claims are detailed in a new BBC investigation and documentary, Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret.
The BBC reports that it has seen photographs and messages that support elements of the women’s accounts, along with a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that Leto’s side sent to one of the women. The broadcaster also spoke with friends and family members who were told about the encounters at the time.
In total, 10 women described interactions with Leto to the BBC. Nine are speaking publicly for the first time. The alleged encounters span 2002 to 2016, when Leto was in his 30s and 40s and the women were in their teens. Leto, now 54, has not responded to repeated requests for comment from the BBC.
One woman, identified by the BBC as Isabel, said she was sexually assaulted in a motel bathroom in 2002 when she was 17. According to her account, after showing Leto and others around the Las Vegas store where she worked, she later met him at his motel. She said he called her into the bathroom while he was showering, kissed her, and used her hand to masturbate himself. She said she pulled away and left.
A second woman, Alex, said she was 19 in 2013 when she was left alone with Leto in a London hotel room after a concert. She alleged he repeatedly threatened to sexually assault her, including saying she would wake up “with a dick in her ass.” She left the room and later texted a friend about the incident.
A third woman, Clara, said she had sex with Leto at his California home in 2006 when she was 17. California’s age of consent is 18, meaning the encounter would be classified as statutory rape under state law. She said they discussed the age of consent and that Leto “shrugged it off.” She also alleged he asked her to call him “daddy” and refer to herself in childlike terms.
The fourth woman, Etta, said Leto groomed her through repeated sexually explicit phone calls beginning when she was 16 in 2014. She said he asked whether she was a virgin, inquired about her sexual preferences, and on at least one occasion suggested they have sex. She later received an NDA intended to prevent her from discussing her interactions with him. The BBC says it has seen the document. She refused to sign it.
Four other women told the BBC they received strange and often highly sexual phone calls they believed came from Leto when they were younger. Another woman said that at age 14 in 2005, Leto made a lewd comment about her body during an autograph session and directed a security guard to take her backstage; her mother confronted him at the time.
Former crew members who worked with Leto described a pattern of young women being invited backstage or to recording locations, with one commenting that “everyone thought the age gap was way too big.”
Allegations of inappropriate behavior by Leto toward young women have circulated for years. In 2025, the publication Air Mail published accounts from nine women describing a range of sexual impropriety, some involving teenagers. Leto’s representatives denied those claims at the time. The BBC said it identified more than 120 related allegations posted online over the years.
Leto has built a dual career as an actor (with an Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club) and as the frontman of Thirty Seconds to Mars. The new documentary and accompanying BBC report mark the most detailed public examination of the longstanding claims to date.
The allegations remain unproven in court. Leto has not issued a public response to the BBC’s reporting.
