30 Seconds to Mars' Jared Leto Sues TMZ for Leaked Footage of Taylor Swift Rant

Jared Leto has been outed concerning his stance on pop sensation Taylor Swift. Although TMZ leaked a video of the 30 Second to Mars frontman ranting and dissing the singer and he quickly apologized, the Suicide Squad actor probably never wanted the world to know his harsh feelings. Leto has now decided to sue TMZ and Warner Bros. Entertainment, claiming the footage was stolen and published to the Internet anyway.

The clip shows "The Kill" singer listening to a trifecta of 1989 tracks including "Blank Space," "Style" and "Welcome to New York" in order to draw inspiration from and criticize an album that had an impressive run throughout 2015.

While he praises certain elements used on each track, the end of the clip brings Leto's most harsh criticism: "I mean f*ck her, I don't give a f*ck about her, it's whatever works best for us." However, he quickly issued an apology.

Now Leto has filed a copyright lawsuit with his Sisyphus Touring company, stating that TMZ used stolen footage after bribing a cameraman, who also didn't have rights to the rant, with $2000 to acquire the clip.

"Last Sunday, I was alerted TMZ had acquired personal and private video footage of me in my home and that they were planning to leak it on their site. My team notified TMZ immediately that I fully owned the footage and that their source had absolutely no rights to sell it. They chose to post it anyway," Leto said in a statement to Rolling Stone. "Let's be clear. This was stolen footage. This was an invasion of privacy. And it was both morally and legally wrong."

He explained that he went ahead with a lawsuit not because he wanted to, but "in hopes it will encourage more people to stop trafficking in stolen goods, to follow proper legal procedure and so that it may motivate additional consideration for the harm these acts can create, especially when the only intention is to simply further the bottom line for the companies and corporations that commit these acts."

Leto has kept busy as of late in heavy preparation of his role as The Joker in Suicide Squad, oftentimes remaining in character. Along with his brother Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević spent time in the woods at Camp Mars, spending quality time outdoors with their biggest fans.

Tags
Jared Leto, 30 Seconds to Mars
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