Four women have accused Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto of criminal sexual conduct, with alleged offences taking place when they were teenagers, according to a BBC documentary aired this week. The allegations, spanning the period between 2002 and 2016, involve a man who was then in his 30s and 40s interacting with girls and young women as young as 16. Leto, now 54 and best known as the frontman of rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars and for his Academy Award-winning role in the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club, has categorically denied the claims. "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life," he said in a statement. "These claims are absolutely and categorically false."

The documentary, titled Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret, features testimony from ten women in total, nine of whom are speaking publicly for the first time. One woman says she was sexually assaulted in a motel bathroom when she was 17, while a second says she had underage sex with Leto at his home in California — where the legal age of consent is 18 — and that he dismissed a conversation about her age. A third woman, who was 19 at the time, describes being left alone with him in a hotel room where he threatened her with sexual assault. A fourth woman says Leto groomed her with repeated sexually explicit phone calls when she was 16 and at least once suggested they have sex; she was subsequently sent a non-disclosure agreement, which the BBC has seen, but she refused to sign. Four additional women describe receiving similarly sexual and disturbing phone calls from Leto when they were younger.

The BBC also gathered testimony from former crew members who described a pattern of access to young women being organised around the band's tours. Staff were reportedly instructed to contact modelling agencies and offer free VIP tickets exclusively to female models — a practice one ex-crew member described as "a little bit uncomfortable". A separate backstage area was arranged for these models, and girls were sometimes invited to Leto's dressing room or the house where the band was recording. "I think everyone thought the age gap was way too big," one former employee said. The BBC says it corroborated a number of the accounts through contemporaneous testimonies from friends and family, as well as photographs and messages.

This is not the first time such allegations have emerged. Earlier in 2025, a separate investigation by Air Mail, a US digital media outlet, published accounts from several women accusing Leto of sexual assault, and the BBC says it found more than 120 reports online concerning his behaviour towards women. At the time of the Air Mail investigation, Leto also denied any wrongdoing. The latest documentary represents the most detailed and corroborated account to date.

The allegations raise broader questions about the entertainment industry's handling of powerful figures and the use of legal instruments such as non-disclosure agreements to silence potential complainants. Thirty Seconds to Mars is scheduled to tour Europe in the coming months, with concerts planned in cities including London, Amsterdam, Milan, and Antwerp. The BBC made repeated attempts to contact Leto before publication; he did not initially respond but issued his denial after the documentary aired.