This is a slam piece. This is an opinion piece. What I am about to write is highly biased against the subject. I do not like Jared Leto. I don’t know him personally; I can’t testify to his true character. What I have is a series of articles, accusations, internet here-say, and analysis of his work that adds up to me – the author of this slam piece – relaying the reasons why I dislike Jared Leto.
It all started as a bad vibe. Yes, I didn’t like his vibe. I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened, it wasn’t like I was keeping tabs on how this person was making me feel. I think he wasn’t on my radar and then he was gradually on my radar more and more and that’s how I released “I don’t like this guy”.
Jared Leto has had numerous scandals throughout his career.
I haven’t been highly present for most of them. His career started before I was born, April 1996 — My So-Called Life first aired in August 1994. He’s been around longer than I have witnessed, maybe that’s part of why I detest him so much, I wasn’t part of the culture that adored him and saw his charm.
What I do know about that time – the time before I noticed who he was – is from research I did for this piece. A New York Post article from 2005 alludes to Jared Leto as insistent on getting with underage models, their source said, “Jared has been hitting on all of them,” [underage models staying at a hotel], they call him a “serial texter” and attest that “It’s really kind of creepy.” The New York Post is a mainstream tabloid airing this story, a testimonial to Jared Leto’s pedophilic nature, but seemingly the only one to do so.
Other inklings of Jared Leto’s preference for underage girls are spread across the remanence of old message boards and spun into hear-say from the people who were there to see it. There is just one post from a woman who writes a first-person account of being coerced by Jared Leto. However, I will be the first to say these are not certifiable sources. I am all for believing women, but I cannot tell you that these things happened. I can tell you that I’ve noticed others online not finding it that hard to believe Jared Leto could have done these things.
BLIND ITEMS
There are multiple Blind Items on Crazy Days and Nights where entertainment lawyer “Enty” calls out Jared Leto’s predatory behaviour: Blind item – Aug. 2018, Blind item – Jan. 2021, Blind item – Dec. 2021. The most incriminating Blind is the one from December last year, it accuses Jared Leto of buying up a message board archive that contains first-person accounts of his [alleged] assaults. Again, it’s hard to say how credible this information is because it is from an anonymous site. Although, Enty did write about Nxivm, Harvey Weinstein, and Jeffery Epstein long before they were publicly outed and brought to justice… so, make of that what you will.
One of the most concrete pieces of evidence of Jared Leto’s open Hollywood secret of favouring underage girls is from a Twitter exchange between two celebrities. Dylan Sprouse tweeted, “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?” to which James Gunn replied, “He starts at 18 on the Internet?” [this tweet has since been deleted] Even though half of this interaction is no longer available on the social media site, the fact that it ever existed is pretty bold for two people to talk about publicly without any knowledge that this behaviour is real.
Speaking of predatory behaviour.
In 2013, 30 Seconds to Mars held a fan contest where the winner got to spend the night in Jared Leto’s bed. The contest page on their website no longer exists, but from what I’ve read, there didn’t seem to be an age restriction on entering the contest… Anyway-
Among all that, Jared Leto has exhibited poor behaviour towards castmates. MTV put out an article in 2016 with an exhaustive list of all the “method acting” gifts he bestowed upon his co-stars in Suicide Squad; the list includes a dead pig, sticky nude magazines, used condoms, a live rat, anal beads, and more. Jared Leto has since denied his own statements about the “gifts” he gave to castmates. If I might insert my own statement here – I think he’s covering his ass. I think Jared Leto thought because he had an Oscar he could do no wrong as an “artist”; he didn’t think that the internet would turn against him. I think he was media advised to redact his earlier statements and talk about newer projects [House of Gucci] in a much different tone.
Fat Suit
Speaking of newer projects, his most recent film House of Gucci has a mixed bag of reviews. I haven’t seen the film; I don’t care to see the film. Why? I don’t care to support the career of a man I detest. What I will say, from what I’ve read on Slate and Vulture, is that Jared Leto’s performance was [supposedly] cartoonish, and lacklustre. I stand by the notion that casting directors should maybe consider hiring people with the same bodies as those they are supposed to play. I don’t think there’s too much harm in a fake nose (depending on the performance), but I do believe putting on a fat suit is entirely unnecessary when there’s a long list of plus-sized actors out there. I also think that if a character’s size is informing your acting choices to represent that person as clownish when fact paints a different picture, you were the wrong choice for the role.
Transmisogyny
Jared Leto has a history of poorly portraying characters he doesn’t understand. His Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyer’s Club is certainly one of those times. This movie I have seen, and at the time, admittedly, I, along with many people, thought it revolutionary. However, I hadn’t yet graduated High School and lacked nuanced perspectives in critical analysis. What I will say now is along the lines of this Time article. Jared Leto performed a caricature of what Hollywood thinks a transwoman is. She is reduced to sexual desire, greed, vanity. She is poor, she is uneducated. She is the charity case Hollywood wishes to represent and save.
This performance was a chance for Hollywood to clap for themselves. The casting director could have hired a transwoman for this role, but I doubt she would have given this movie an Oscar so perhaps that’s why. We must acknowledge the trans community’s response to his casting as well: see Time and The Guardian. The term “transmisogyny” is new to me, but I think it describes this entire scenario and pop culture moment.
On to the outlandish:
Jared Leto and his bandmates started a cult [Blend Magazine, L’Officiel, Distractify, YouTube]. It started as a “joke” because a journalist said 30 Second to Mars had a “cult following”, and now this luxury private island yoga retreat is referred to as a “cult”. There are no vengeful attendees, there’s no scandal to escape this exclusive getaway – and to this, I am relieved. So, what’s there to hate? You might ask. Well, to that I say, how about everything? How can a group of musicians become so self-entitled that they charge their loyalist of fans upwards of $2000 for a meet and greet they can’t leave? What’s also crazy is that it’s just one band. The activities at that price feel appropriate if there was a lineup of different musicians, but it isn’t. Its. Just. One. Band.
What also grinds my gears about this venture for Jared Leto and his bandmates is that it feels like they’re making a mockery of their fandom. Cults prey on a certain kind of person, or a person in a certain emotional place; vulnerable and seeking but lacking critical comprehension due to a distrust in themselves. For 30 Seconds to Mars to call their fanbase a cult, they’re insinuating that their fanbase has no interest in having a mind of their own, insinuating that their fans blindly follow their leaders, are pliable. With that and the outrageous prices they’re charging, I think you’ve got a group of middle-aged men manipulating their fanbase into a form of worship and devotion that looks an awful lot like a toxic one-sided relationship instead of a fluid connection between artist and admirer.
Are you convinced?
Jared Leto, in my opinion, gets too much praise and not enough scrutiny. I think someone with a career that long, with numerous, substantial revenue streams, a healthy management team with no doubt a stack of highly sought-after lawyers, and an aspired “cult” fanbase is someone to be feared. I think his actions need to be unpacked, and I think he’s gone too long without a reality check. I don’t like Jared Leto, and that dislike is not entirely unfounded yet not entirely backed with credible insight. What can I say? I got a bad vibe.