Jared Leto facing backlash after revealing ambition to play in Moscow
Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto has come under fire after revealing his ambition to perform in Moscow.
The musician and actor, 52, made a series of comments during a recent gig in Belgrade – expressing his ambition to play Russian cities St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Taking to the stage as part of the band’s ongoing world tour, the House of Gucci star thanked Russian fans in the audience and revealed that he wanted to visit their homeland when ‘these problems’ are finished.
‘We missed you guys, do you know that?’, he said, in footage captured by one Instagram user. ‘I tell you what, one day when all of these problems are finished, we’re going to come back to Serbia; we’re going to go up to St. Petersburg, over to Moscow.
He continued, saying: ‘We’re gonna drop down to Kyiv. We’re gonna party and hang out with everybody, ok?’
These tone-deaf sentiments were met with horror and outrage from some fans, who didn’t appreciate how he appeared to be downplaying the horror of current events — namely, the still-ongoing war in Ukraine and Russia’s culpability for the unfolding atrocities.
Writing on the social media site X, fans were quick to slam the Morbius actor for his insensitivity.
‘This is not “some problems”, this is genocide,’ clarified the user deboralyts.
‘He didn’t say “when the war will end”, no, he said how much he wants perform in russia again, while all those terrible HORRIBLE things that RUSSIANS are doing in Ukraine for him it’s just a “problem”,’ pointed out lfwluvs.
‘Are you aware that there is WAR in Ukraine and not just some “problems”? Are you aware that russians voluntarily come here to commit genocide and war crimes? If what you said is okay for you, if you sympathize war supporters, then you are NOT welcome in Ukrainian,’ said yanpopolam.
‘You are horribly mistaken! Do not come to Kyiv, you are not welcome!’ announced maxiri1983.
‘Shame on you,’ added ukr_rain.
‘just a problem you have said?’ asked a disbelieving IPilyak95410.
The star’s remarks come amid the band’s Seasons 2024 world tour, which kicked off in Santiago, Chile, in March this year.
Since then, he and his bandmates – including brother and co-founder Shannon Leto – have gone on to play gigs in Europe, the United Kingdom and the USA, as well as Australia, Singapore and Canada.
The tour is set to continue until December 2024, with dates in Azerbaijan, Romania, Turkey, Dubai and Saudi Arabia still planned.
The iconic American rock band first formed in 1998, rising to fame with such hits as The Kill, This Is War and ATTACK.
Its controversial frontman has continued to divide his time between the stage and screen, appearing as Jordan Catalano in the groundbreaking drama series My So-Called Life before starring in such films as Urban Legend, American Psycho, Requiem For a Dream and Blade Runner 2049.
In 2014, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a trans woman in Jean-Marc Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club.
Playing the Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad, reports emerged of his extreme version of method acting – allegedly sending dead rats (which he later clarified hadn’t been dead after all) and condoms to his co-stars on the film.
Once his world tour has been completed, he will appear in the Disney sequel Tron: Ares.
Reps for Jared Leto have been contacted for comment.
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