Jared Leto controversy explained as underage accusations resurface online amid Morbius release

Ahead of the official release of Jared Leto's Morbius, the actor has been hit with much controversy over past allegations of targeting underage girls via text. Simultaneously, the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman has also been receiving a lot of flak online as early reviews for Morbius come rushing in.

Over the years, numerous publications have accused Leto of having “predatory behavior” towards underage girls. However, this may be taken with a grain of salt as the reports of him s*xually assaulting minors came from unverified sources and have been in circulation for almost over two decades.

Previously, in 2018, Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack & Cody star Dylan Sprouse and Marvel director James Gunn hinted at Leto's creepy behavior, specifically about texting models online.

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Exploring the accusations against Jared Leto’s alleged habit of pursuing minor girls

While allegations against Jared Leto targeting teens along with accusations of the actor s*xually assaulting had been spread by numerous less-established publications, the crux of the matter was revealed by former The New York Post reporter Chris Wilson. In 2005, the Blade Runner: 2049 star was accused of “aggressively pursuing teen models.”

As per The New York Post’s source and their claims,

“He’s been approaching all the girls and inviting them to his shows…He’s a serial texter. He is constantly texting these 16- and 17-year-old girls. It’s really kind of creepy.”

At the time, Leto was reportedly staying in New York during a tour of his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars.

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2018 allegations by James Gunn and Dylan Sprouse

In May 2018, Sprouse called out Jared Leto in his tweet and alleged that the actor had “slid into the DMs of every female model aged 18-25.” He also enquired about Leto’s “success rate” in his alleged conversations. It was not clear why Sprouse may have accused Leto at the time.

Later, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn replied to Sprouse’s tweet and wrote,

“He starts at 18 on the internet?”

The tweet insinuated that Jared Leto might have pursued underaged girls in the past. However, the director and screenwriter seems to have deleted the tweet as Gunn’s own past p*dophilic jokes on Twitter resurfaced in the same year. The director was also fired from Marvel as a result of that and proceeded to direct the sequel of WB’s Sucide Squad (2016).

Coincidentally, Jared Leto played a controversial take on the Joker in the prequel to Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (2021).

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Recent reactions from netizens to Leto’s alleged pursuit of underaged girls

Following the abysmal early reviews of Leto’s recent film, Morbius, the actor’s past allegations were again brought to light. Numerous tweets referred to Gunn’s apparently deleted tweet to get further attention over to the accusations.

In addition to these accusations, Leto's Thirty Seconds to Mars admittedly created a self-proclaimed "cult" on their private Croatian island.

Moreover, Leto's alleged questionable behavior on the set of 2016's Suicide Squad further enabled these rumored speculations of predatory behavior. At the time, the actor allegedly sent used condoms to his co-stars, and reportedly sent a dead rat to Margot Robbie.