Nine women accuse Jared Leto of sexual impropriety in new report

The Guardian

4 hours ago

Multiple women have accused Jared Leto of impropriety, with some calling the 53-year-old actor and musician's behavior 'predatory, terrifying and unacceptable'.
In a new report by Air Mail on Saturday, nine women have come forward to accuse Leto of engaging in inappropriate behavior over the years, including flirting with teenagers.
Speaking to the outlet, one woman said that back in 2006, when she was 16 years old, Leto approached her outside a cafe in Los Angeles. According to the woman, Leto, who was seated with the actor Ashley Olsen, who was then 19, grabbed her arm.
'I looked down and it was Jared Leto,' the woman told Air Mail, adding: 'We had a quick conversation, and he got my number.' She went on to say that Leto called her home a few days later, recalling: 'I don't know if he was on drugs or what … It was the weirdest, grossest voice … [But] for me, it's Jared, you know?'
She said that Leto said he was hosting a party at his house that evening and that he invited her. The woman declined, telling the outlet: 'I didn't even have a driver's license.' Nevertheless, she said, Leto kept calling her, 'always at one, two, three AM'.
'And the conversations turned sexual. He'd ask things like: 'Have you ever had a boyfriend? Have you ever sucked a dick?'' she told Air Mail.
Another woman, the model Laura La Rue, recounted a similar experience to the outlet, saying that when she was 16 years old in 2008, she was at an event in a private residence in Beverly Hills where Leto was 'watching her so intensely'.
'He asked how old I was. I said, 'I'm 16. How old are you?'' La Rue told Air Mail. Leto, who was 36 at the time, proceeded to ask for her number. The two began an email correspondence, which eventually led to her visiting Leto's home in April 2009, the outlet reports.
'I remember him teasing me the whole time I was there,' La Rue said, adding: 'He was flirting with me. He'd lean in close, then pull away, like it was a game.'
In a statement to Air Mail, a representative of Leto said: 'Their communications contain nothing sexual or inappropriate … and Ms La Rue later applied to work as Mr Leto's personal assistant, further underscoring the absence of anything inappropriate in any of their interactions.' Air Mail reports La Rue denying ever applying for a personal assistant role with Leto.
During a separate visit, La Rue said, Leto walked out of a room completely naked when she was 17 years old. 'He just walked out, dick out, like it was normal … I thought maybe this was just what adult men do,' she told Air Mail.
Another woman who spoke to the outlet said that she and Leto began a texting relationship while she was still underage. According to her, Leto would ask her inappropriate questions during her visits to his house, such as: 'Do any of the little boys you hang out with fuck you?'
The woman added that once, when she was 18, Leto 'suddenly pulled his penis out and started masturbating'. She told the outlet: 'Then he walked over, grabbed my hand, and put it on him. He leaned in and said: 'I want you to spit on it.''
Another woman, Allie Teilz, a Los Angeles-based DJ and music producer, last month on Instagram reposted a 2012 Facebook status in which she had said: 'Youre [sic] not really in L.A. until Jared Leto tries to force himself on you backstage… In a kilt.. And a snow hat,' Air Mail reported.
In her Instagram stories, which Air Mail reviewed, Teilz said: 'I was assaulted and traumatized by this creep when I was 17 … He knew my age and didn't care. What he did was predatory, terrifying and unacceptable.'
A representative of Leto has 'expressly denied' the various women's accusations reported in Air Mail, including Teilz's, which the representative said were 'demonstrably false'.
Leto himself has yet to comment on the allegations.
In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International