Years before Jared Leto’s sexual assault scandal — which has culminated in four women accusing the Oscar winner of sexual improprieties while they were teens in a new BBC documentary — he was also accused of heading a seeming “cult.”
Seven years ago, in August 2020, the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman headed up a wellness retreat at “Mars Island” — ostensibly for members of his band’s fanbase, which is dubbed The Echelon — on the private, uninhabited island of Obonjan, Croatia.
At the alcohol-free retreat, attendees were said to have swam, sunbathed, walked on the beach and engaged in yoga, all while celebrating their regard for the “Dallas Buyers Club” actor and his band.
But according to Air Mail — which in 2025 published the accounts of sexual improprieties allegedly committed by Leto toward nine women, all of which he denied — the mostly female attendees also “meditated, chanted and lounged barefoot in caftans alongside Leto.”
Though the “House of Gucci” star’s band called it a “spiritual retreat,” the overall vibe of the festival drew widespread comparisons to a cult.
Speculation reached a high after the “Suicide Squad” star, now 54, was spotted in a photo standing on a cliff with his arms raised — his fans standing below him, with their arms also outstretched.
Other images shared to social media showed fans wearing white while sitting on the floor listening to Leto, seated on a stool, speak to them.
“Yes, this is a cult,” a 2019 tweet posted by Thirty Seconds to Mars read, adding the hashtag, “#MarsIsland.”
In multiple images, both Leto and his fans wore white as they navigated the immersive three-day retreat, which was said to have cost over $6,499 to attend.
Prior to Mars Island, Thirty Seconds to Mars also launched an adults-only event in Malibu, California in 2015 dubbed “Camp Mars” — a weekend fan retreat filled with campfires, archery, hiking, and music, that culminated in nightly “Church of Mars” concerts.
Camp Mars had its final event in 2019, and though a 2022 Mars Island event was said to have been brewing, it seemingly never materialized.
Although the events have raised eyebrows, according to L’Officiel, the band had leaned into the “cult” image by “playing on journalists telling them that they have a ‘cult following.’”
In fact, Leto was spotted in an image, seemingly taken at Mars Island in 2019, wearing a shirt reading “This is a Cult” on the back.
When Air Mail published their stunning article in June 2025, they titled it, “The Cult of Leto,” drawing on L’Officiel’s previously published 2024 article entitled “The Cult of Jared Leto.”
Page Six reached out to a rep regarding the ongoing speculation on Leto’s “cult following,” but did not immediately hear back.
Interest in the Mars events and alleged “cult” following has resurfaced amid news that the “Blade Runner 2049” star, 54, has been accused by four women — using using the pseudonyms “Clara,” “Isabel,” “Alex” and “Etta” — of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers in a new BBC documentary entitled “Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret.”
Leto denied wrongdoing in a strongly worded statement to Page Six on Wednesday, calling the allegations “absolutely and categorically false” and saying that he has “never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life.”
Amid the news, a resurfaced interview from 2016 showed the “My So-Called Life” star admitting to sending used condoms and anal beads to co-stars, including Margot Robbie, and Will Smith, in line with his character of The Joker.
“I did a lot of things to create a dynamic,” he told E! News in 2016, “to create an element of surprise, spontaneity.”
He continued, “And to really break down any walls that may be there. I mean, the Joker is somebody who doesn’t really respect things like personal space or boundaries.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
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