Actor and singer Jared Leto denies sexual misconduct accusations from BBC documentary

Jared Leto, the Oscar-winning actor and frontman of rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, denied sexual misconduct allegations raised in a BBC documentary, "Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret," which aired in the UK on July 29, the Los Angeles Times reported. Ten women described alleged incidents, including sexual assault and statutory rape, occurring between 2002 and 2016. "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life," Leto, 54, said in a statement. "These claims are absolutely and categorically false."

Director Alice McShane began working on the film after Los Angeles DJ Allie Teilz resurfaced a 2012 post in April 2025 accusing Leto of trying to "force himself" onto her backstage at a concert, describing him as "Hollywood's most persistent predator." Roughly 40 women contacted Teilz with their own accounts, and the filmmakers said they ultimately found more than 120 separate allegations online over 18 months of reporting. Ten women agreed to be interviewed on camera, though only three used their real names.

Among the accounts: a woman identified as Isabelle told the BBC she met Leto at a Las Vegas mall in 2002, when she was 17 and he was in his early 30s, and alleges he assaulted her after inviting her to a nearby motel. A woman identified as Clara alleges Leto had sex with her at his California home when she was 17 and he was 34, after a conversation about the state's age of consent that she says he "just kind of shrugged it off, like it wasn't a huge concern for him."

A third woman, Alex, told the BBC she was invited backstage at a Thirty Seconds to Mars show at London's O2 in 2013, when she was 19 but told Leto she was 17 "to protect herself." She says he replied, "Age is just a number, and, anyway, we're in Europe."

BBC Current Affairs executive producer Mike Radford said what sets the documentary apart from earlier reporting on Leto, including a 2025 Air Mail story naming nine women that Leto also denied, is that it alleges criminal conduct rather than general misconduct. "That's a different level of potential wrongdoing," Radford said. "It goes beyond misunderstanding to something more worrying." The filmmakers said they sent Leto a formal right-of-reply letter two weeks before the documentary aired; he did not respond until after it was broadcast.

Radford said the BBC's investigation is continuing and that a follow-up documentary is possible, though not yet commissioned. The film has no confirmed US air date despite being offered to American broadcasters during production. The allegations have already had consequences for Leto's band, as covered in Campaigners call for Thirty Seconds To Mars' UK tour to be scrapped over Leto allegations. Readers affected by sexual violence can reach RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-4673.