Campaigners Urge Cancellation of Jared Leto UK Concerts
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- Women's Aid and the End Violence Against Women Coalition told BBC Newsbeat they are urging organisers to scrap Thirty Seconds to Mars' April concerts at London's The O2 and Manchester's Co-Op Live, calling it troubling that an alleged abuser would still be platformed.
- Jared Leto, now 54, strongly denies the allegations, stating through representatives: "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life. These claims are absolutely and categorically false."
- A BBC investigation aired allegations from four women — and a documentary featured ten total accusers — who say Leto engaged in sexual assault and grooming during the 2000s and 2010s, when the accusers were teenagers and the musician was in his 30s and 40s.
- Two former male crew members on the documentary "Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret" described staff discomfort with how Leto interacted with teenage girls, with one alleging crew were instructed to invite young fans backstage after gigs.
- Promoters, venues and the band had not responded to BBC Newsbeat's requests for comment at time of publication, and tickets for the two arena dates remained on sale.
- The coalition's interim director Janaya Walker warned that survivors seeing concerts proceed "without any consequence" would cause "alarm and frustration and anger," and urged the industry to consider what platforming the artist "signals" about tolerated behaviour.
Why it matters: Two of Britain's largest domestic-abuse charities are publicly pressuring promoters at The O2 and Co-Op Live to cancel shows tied to an artist facing detailed criminal sexual conduct allegations — a rare intervention that puts venue operators in the position of choosing between commercial interests and survivor advocacy before any criminal proceedings have been reported.
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