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A BBC documentary titled Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret has detailed criminal sexual conduct allegations against the 54-year-old actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman from four women who say they were teenagers at the time of their encounters with him. One woman using the pseudonym Isabel alleged she was sexually assaulted in a motel bathroom in 2002 at age 17 after being invited to meet Leto at what she thought was his hotel. Another identified as Alex claimed that at 19 she was left alone with Leto in a hotel room where he repeatedly threatened her with sexual assault after she had been invited to an after-party following one of his band’s concerts.
The BBC reported that a third woman named Clara in the programme said she had underage sex with Leto at his California home when she was 17 and he was 34, an act that would amount to statutory rape in the state. Clara recalled discussing the age of consent with him because her father worked in law enforcement and said he simply shrugged it off. A fourth woman described being groomed through repeated sexually explicit phone calls starting when she was 16 in 2014, with Leto at one point suggesting they have sex before she was later sent a non-disclosure agreement that she refused to sign, according to the broadcaster.
The BBC said it had corroborated several of the women’s accounts with friends and family members who were told contemporaneously as well as through pictures, messages and the non-disclosure agreement itself. Two men who worked with Leto’s band for years told the documentary that staff felt uncomfortable about the way the singer would interact with teenage girls, sometimes directing crew to invite them backstage or to recording houses where as many as two would visit daily. One former crew member identified only as Brad in the programme stated that everyone thought the age gap was way too big.
The latest claims expand on a pattern of allegations that have circulated for years against the star of films including Dallas Buyers Club, for which he won an Academy Award in 2014. A June 2025 report by Air Mail featured accounts from nine women accusing Leto of sexual impropriety with some saying they were underage, according to coverage in The Guardian and People magazine. Leto’s representatives flatly denied all those allegations at the time, with the performer maintaining he had done nothing wrong.
Variety reported in June 2025 that the accumulating accusations could complicate promotional efforts for Leto’s tentpole film roles including the Disney production Tron: Ares and his villainous turn in Amazon MGM’s Masters of the Universe adaptation, both of which were then nearing release. The actor’s band Thirty Seconds to Mars, formed in 1998, maintains an active touring schedule with European dates including at London’s O2 Arena already announced for next spring. Public discussion of the claims has also referenced more than 120 separate online allegations concerning Leto’s behaviour toward women over the decades, many of them historical.
Despite repeated requests from the BBC, Leto has not responded to the specific allegations featured in the new documentary. The broadcaster noted that one of the women stated this was 25 years ago and that he has gotten away with it. Former crew members additionally described how modelling agencies were contacted to supply young women with VIP access to concerts and after-parties at the direct request of Leto.
