Why does everybody hate Jared Leto?

(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)

Despite their best intentions, some artists cannot escape attracting hatred no matter what they do. There are those whose motivations are obscured by a series of bewildering and even alarming actions, inviting widespread disdain from onlookers and pushing them further from their ultimate goal of reverence. While music and film have always had their villains, from Nickelback to John Wayne, one man who has found immense success in both fields but remains widely loathed is Jared Leto.

Most people first heard Jared Leto as the frontman of rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars in the mid-2000s. Their 2002 self-titled debut was a slow-burning success, earning tours with Incubus and Puddle of Mudd, but it wasn’t until their 2005 follow-up, A Beautiful Lie, that they gained greater prominence, becoming one of the decade’s most popular bands. The album saw them deemed part of the ongoing third wave of emo. Hits such as ‘Attack’, ‘From Yesterday’ and their most famous effort, ‘The Kill’, are even hailed as era classics of the genre. The record has shipped 1.2 million copies in the US alone.

From that moment, the group became increasingly bombastic and experimental, as evidenced by 2009’s This Is War and 2013’s Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams. This evolvement saw them pierce the mainstream and consolidate a cult-like fanbase. Due to the eye-wateringly affected music, promotion, and Leto’s out-there aesthetics and performances, they became reviled by those outside their fanbase. The ensuing America and It’s the End of the World but It’s a Beautiful Day, were greatly polarising releases.

Concurrent with his musical efforts has been Leto’s work as an actor, which has seen him win an Academy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Golden Globe. He started in the TV show My So-Called Life in 1994, played supporting roles in Fight Club and American Pyscho, and later earned more prominent roles after playing drug addict Harry Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream. He even featured in Oliver Stone’s much-maligned 2004 epic, Alexander.

Things were taken up a level on this front after Leto starred in 2013’s heartbreaking Dallas Buyers Club. He played the fictional trans woman Raymond Rayon, who helps Matthew McConaughey’s Ron Woodroof in his pharmaceutical efforts to fight HIV. The performance secured him the Oscar for ‘Best Supporting Actor’. He has since been featured in popular movies such as Suicide Squad, Blade Runner 2049, The Little Things and House of Gucci. 

Seemingly, being an acclaimed actor and successful musician would qualify anyone as a living legend, but not Leto. There are several key elements that make him one of the most disliked celebrities in existence. 

So, why is Jared Leto hated?

Perhaps the most notorious aspect of Leto’s career has been his method acting. While it is a common approach for several Hollywood stars deemed the crème de la crème, including Leto’s Dallas Buyers Club co-star McConaughey, Leto has taken it to new depths in seemingly depraved and self-indulgent ways. Jennifer Garner, Leto’s former co-star, said she “hated” making Dallas Buyers Club as she watched the pair starve themselves. Importantly, his portrayal of Rayon also angered LGBT+ and trans activists for its almost caricature-like display of the trans experience.

Requiem for a Dream, meanwhile, offered a sign of things to come in regard to his reckless techniques. To prepare for the role of the heroin addict Goldfarb, Leto lived on New York City’s streets and refrained from having sex for two months before shooting. In a show of the crazy personal chasms he pushes himself into, Leto starved himself for months, losing a wild 28 pounds. Following this stint, he relocated to Portugal and lived at a monastery to gain weight.

While these junctures are alarming, there’s little reason to truly hate Jared Leto, aside from his pretentious dedication to being as ‘real’ as possible. However, his notoriety skyrocketed after 2016’s Suicide Squad, causing the hostility for him to reach new levels. In David Ayer’s DC Comics superhero movie, Leto played the supervillain, The Joker, who was featured heavily in the trailer, leading fans to believe this portrayal might be one of the best. This role was significant as he was the first to take it on since the late Heath Ledger made it iconic in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

However, Leto actually only featured in ten minutes of the final cut, despite the extensive marketing. With that, allegations of his bizarre behaviour on set began to surface. After filming, stories emerged claiming that Leto had sent a live rat to co-star Margot Robbie, gifted the cast a dead pig, and sent used condoms and anal beads to other actors, all while staying in character. Speaking to Vanity Fair, one of the movie’s stars, Viola Davis, recalled that Leto did “some bad things” and described the gifts as “really horrific”.

At the film premiere, Leto defended himself but only augmented his somewhat bizarre reputation that was building. He did it for spontaneity, to create surprise, and to break down boundaries, he said, as, after all, The Joker has no respect for personal space. In 2021, he doubled down, inviting more abhorrence when speaking to Entertainment Weekly: “I’m an artist at the end of the day. If I do something risky and you don’t like it, basically, you can kiss my ass.” Clearly, he was undeterred by the backlash. Intense stories emerged from the Morbius set a few years later.

That wasn’t all regarding Suicide Squad. Allegedly, Leto felt aggrieved when he learned that Joaquin Phoenix was starring in 2019’s Joker. While the movie was ultimately an immense success, The Hollywood Reporter claims that Leto tried to kill the project.

Thirty Seconds to Mars

Then, there’s Leto’s music. Whether it’s the screaming, hyper-dramatic emo of their second record or their later, poppier efforts that saw his persona become more eccentric, it only takes one listen to tracks like ‘Closer to the Edge’ and ‘Up in the Air’ and a quick glance at their music videos, to understand just how pretentious he can be.

Adding an extra layer to the controversy is Leto’s cult-like behaviour. He refuses to use the word “fan”, instead calling his followers “The Echelon”. Leto has described his band’s supporters as a “cult” and believers who understand his meaning. This utter hubris becomes even more damaging when considering The Black Keys’ damning critique, questioning the motives of grown men making music for kids while taking it all so seriously.

This became even more questionable in 2015 when Leto held the three-day Camp Mars in California. A music festival that included a series of activities for fans, such as hiking, climbing, cooking classes, yoga, raising the flag and campfire singalongs. Camp Mars then became Mars Island in Croatia in 2019. Photos emerged depicting the long-haired, white-clad Leto followed by disciples also in white, giving off seriously cultish vibes. Despite the supposedly lighthearted nature of such moments, it’s all a touch odd to us non-believers. 

Other controversial Leto moments include the 2015 video in which he condemned Taylor Swift’s 1989. “Oh, I don’t like this at all,” he said. “Fuck her. I don’t give a fuck about her.” The furious Swiftie backlash led to a Twitter apology. He also tried and failed to sue TMZ for releasing the clip, adding to the embarrassment. 

While Jared Leto has a dedicated fan base and has achieved significant success in both his acting and music careers, aspects of his public and professional life contribute to why he is a divisive figure. Different people have different reasons for disliking him, and it’s a combination of his personal behaviour, professional choices, and public persona that fuels the negative sentiment.

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