#digital spy

Jared Leto promised on stage to sign women’s breasts at a 30 Seconds to Mars aftershow party the first time I saw him perform in London in 2009. At the time the comment was innocuous. That’s just what rock stars say.

But now it feels all the more chilling after one of the women who came forward in BBC documentary Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret insisted that when she was 14, he instructed a security guard to take her backstage at a music festival after having made a lewd comment about her chest during an autograph-signing.

The girl's mother confronted Leto, but he repeated the comment, it is alleged.

The woman is one of 10 who have come forward with allegations of sexual assault, grooming and statutory rape all taking place between 2002 and 2016, when he was in his 30s and 40s. He is now 54.

Leto vehemently denies all the allegations.

Hours after the documentary was released, a spokesperson for Leto issued a statement on his behalf, saying: "I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life. These claims are absolutely and categorically false."

I met Leto in the middle of that time, six months after I’d watched him perform on stage with his band at Koko, London.

At the time he was marketed as a sex symbol who couldn’t get enough female attention. Women were literally throwing their knickers at him.

But now as revelations emerge, I can reveal that what he was marketed as may have fuelled his alleged predatory behaviour and that Leto was actually a man wracked by low self esteem, overwhelm and stress.

Six months after that gig at Koko, London in November 2009, I flew to Sziget Festival in Budapest in August 2010 where Leto’s band was also on the bill.

I was working for the Daily Star’s music column Playlist at the time and had an interview with Mika lined up. But when Mika and I were talking backstage, Leto emerged stressed and frantic following his headline slot at the festival.

After performing to thousands of fans, the then-38-year-old unleashed his performance anxieties, saying: "I'm not sure how good that performance was. I don't know if I sang enough – I should have sung more and danced less."

His eyes were frantic. I had never seen a pop star so worried about their image.

Mika and I tried to appease him. But Leto seemed on the verge of tears reflecting on his crippling jet lag and late nights.

He said: "I feel so tired all the time, it's really exhausting and never ending."

Leto’s insecurities felt like such a different persona from the confident, sex symbol one the public were being sold. He wasn’t sexy. He seemed desperate to be liked and loved.