By Adegboyega Adeleye
Oscar-winning actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto has denied allegations of sexual assault and criminal sexual conduct after a BBC documentary featured accounts from 10 women, four of whom accused him of offences allegedly committed when they were teenagers.
The documentary, “Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret”, released by the BBC on Wednesday, includes testimonies from 10 women, with nine speaking publicly for the first time. The women alleged they encountered Leto between 2002 and 2016, when the actor and musician was in his 30s and 40s. He is now 54.
According to the BBC investigation, one woman alleged she was sexually assaulted in a motel bathroom at the age of 17, while another claimed Leto threatened her with sexual assault when she was 19 after she was left alone with him in a hotel room.
A third woman alleged she had sex with the actor in California when she was 17, an allegation that would constitute statutory rape under California law. She claimed Leto dismissed concerns after a discussion about the state’s age of consent.
