Campaigners Urge Cancellation of 2 UK Thirty Seconds to Mars Shows Over Jared Leto Allegations
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 7
Campaigners Urge Cancellation of 2 UK Thirty Seconds to Mars Shows Over Jared Leto Allegations
2 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 7
Summary
Two UK arena dates for Thirty Seconds to Mars next April are facing cancellation calls from Women's Aid and the End Violence Against Women coalition after allegations against frontman Jared Leto.
Four women in a BBC investigation accused Leto of conduct including sexual assault and grooming, with alleged incidents spanning the 2000s and 2010s when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s and 40s.
Women's Aid said organisers should "put safety over profit," while campaigners said continuing to sell tickets for London's O2 and Manchester's Co-op Live alarms victims and risks signaling tolerance of such behaviour.
Ten women spoke to the BBC documentary in total, nine publicly for the first time, and two former band associates described staff discomfort over Leto's interactions with teenage girls.
Leto, now 54, said through representatives after publication that he had "never sexually assaulted anyone" and called the claims "absolutely and categorically false"; promoters, venues and the band did not comment.