EXCLUSIVE: Full Story Behind Jared Leto Facing Career Backlash as Misconduct Allegations Surface
Jared Leto faces growing career backlash as misconduct allegations against the actor continue to surface.
Sept. 5 2026, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
It started as a joke. About halfway through the music video for the Thirty Seconds to Mars song Closer to the Edge, the words "Yes this is a cult" flash on the screen. "[It's] a response to journalists saying, 'You have such a cult following,'" the band's frontman Jared Leto told The New York Times in 2013, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
"We have always had incredibly committed people following us. If people like Thirty Seconds to Mars, they really, really, really like it." But when the band hosted a three-day wellness retreat for their fans – or "the echelon" as they're called – on a private island in Croatia in 2019, it only fueled the cult comparisons.
A photo of Leto, 54, and festivalgoers all dressed in white, standing with their arms raised up to the sky did little to dispel those claims; neither did a snapshot of the singer leading a talk while wearing a tie-dye "This Is a Cult" T-shirt.
Thirty Seconds to Mars fueled cult comparisons after Jared Leto hosted a three-day fan retreat in Croatia.
Those images are far more concerning in the wake of a new BBC documentary, Jared Leto: Hollywood's Darkest Secret, in which multiple women accuse the actor of sexual misconduct. The claims follow years of whispers and allegations that never seemed to hinder the Masters of the Universe star.
"He loved being this grand conductor who could essentially control people's lives and have them flock at his feet and the more the crowds grew, the more it spiraled," a source told RadarOnline.com. "It gave Jared this colossal sense of self-importance and fed his arrogance even more."
So much so, "this is a guy who would openly brag that he could get his fans to do whatever he wanted," revealed the source. "His ego was off the charts and the way he swaggered around with this sense of entitlement made it seem like he was some type of self-appointed God," and a "totally untouchable" one at that.
Dylan Sprouse publicly questioned Leto's interactions with female models in a 2018 social media post.
Word Gets Around
For years, Leto has been dogged by rumors of his inappropriate behavior. As early as 2005 the New York Post claimed "Jared Leto likes 'em young" and alleged that the My So-Called Life heartthrob had been approaching teen models at Manhattan's Maritime Hotel. "He is constantly texting these 16- and 17-year-old girls," a source told the news outlet.
"It's really kind of creepy." In 2012, DJ Allie Teilz posted on Facebook, "You're not really in L.A. until Jared Leto tries to force himself on you backstage."
When Dylan Sprouse tweeted at the actor turned singer in 2018 – "Yo @JaredLeto now that you've slid into the dm's of every female model aged 18-25, what would you say your success rate is?" – director James Gunn replied: "He starts at 18 on the Internet?"
James Gunn responded to Sprouse's 2018 post about Leto with a pointed remark about age.
Suffice to say, Leto's reputation preceded him. "He's known as an extremely sketchy guy whose behavior around women has left a lot to be desired, and that's putting it mildly," admits the source.
"The amazing thing for most people in Hollywood is that it's taken so long for this backlash to finally hit, so naturally, there are a lot of folks saying it's high time karma intervened and that he's held accountable for his past behavior."
Speaking Out
That time might be here. In the new BBC documentary, four women, using pseudonyms, have accused the Oscar-winning actor of sexual misconduct.
Four women using pseudonyms accused Leto of sexual misconduct in the new BBC documentary 'Jared Leto: Hollywood's Darkest Secret.'
Per Page Six, "Isabel," then 17, alleged Leto sexually assaulted her in a motel bathroom; "Clara" claims to have slept with him when she was 17 and that he "shrugged off" talk of California's age of consent being 18; "Alex," then 19, alleges she was left in a hotel room with Leto alone and that he threatened her with sexual assault; and "Etta" claims to have been groomed and that he repeatedly made sexually explicit phone calls and even suggested they should have s—, despite her being 16. (In 2025, Air Mail published a report in which nine women alleged sexual impropriety; Leto denied the claims through his reps.)
Leto strongly denied the new allegations in a statement. "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life," said the Dallas Buyers Club star, calling the claims "absolutely and categorically false."
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The 'Dallas Buyers Club' star strongly denied the new allegations, calling them 'absolutely and categorically false.'
He's also "insisting that he's at the center of a gigantic hate campaign," RadarOnline.com's source revealed, and is "vowing to clear his name no matter what and saying he'll go after these accusers one by one for ruining his name and trying to systematically destroy his life."
Leto hasn't officially been charged with a crime as of press time, "but he's up to his neck in scandal," notes the source. "It's hard to imagine he'll be able to bounce back from this."
