Jared Leto has shared new details of his multi-million-dollar debt at the height of his fame with his band 30 Seconds To Mars and how they were sued for $30million.
The musician, 52, revealed he was almost left bankrupt after his rock band released their breakthrough second album because of debt owed to their record company.
Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O show to promote the band’s upcoming Australian tour, Jared told how selling millions of albums worldwide didn’t result in a huge influx of cash but left him ‘penniless’.
After selling three million copies of A Beautiful Lie in 2005, Jared and his brother Shannon found themselves more than $2.7million dollars in debt to their record label EMI and were then sued for another $30million due to an alleged contract breach.
‘We sold millions of copies, and then we found out not only were we not going to be paid a single cent, we were millions of dollars in debt,’ he detailed on Wednesday’s show.
‘We disputed. They sued us for $30million for breach of contract and then we made a film about it.
‘So anyway, we went through that crazy bit of our lives and it’s nice to be on the other side.’
Radio host Kyle Sandilands quizzed Jared on the realities of making money in the music business, with the Hollywood star admitting it wasn’t always plain-sailing.
Jared Leto has shared new details of his multi-million-dollar debt at the height of his fame with his band 30 Seconds To Mars and how they were sued for $30million
‘Nah, you make money on the road and these days it’s pretty tough because of inflation,’ Jared explained.
However, he insisted he is not focused on the income, adding: ‘I would do it for free. It is a beautiful thing to be out there.’
Jared previously detailed his band 30 Seconds To Mars’ legal battles with his label EMI on his 2012 documentary Artifact.
The award-winning program followed the band’s difficult journey after they were sued for failing to deliver the third album on its five-album contract.
‘This was a very real lawsuit. It wasn’t just a headline,’ Jared told Rolling Stone at the time the film premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival.
‘We had a very real possibility of owing a corporation $30million dollars, of having our music and our album tied up in the courts and never seeing the light of day and our careers an our dreams shattered.
‘Just because you sign with a record company doesn’t mean you can be treated unfairly,’ he warned other artists.
The musician, 52, revealed he was almost left bankrupt after his rock band released their breakthrough second album because of debt owed to their record company
‘If you ask any lawyer, any manager, any artist that’s been around a for a decade or more, the general consensus would be the same — it is culture where you sign a really unfair one-sided record deal and then with success you either sue or you start renegotiating.’
30 Seconds to Mars ultimately settled the lawsuit and inked a new deal with EMI’s Virgin Records.
‘I can’t get into specifics of the deal, but this isn’t about making a bunch of money. That day is done and over in recorded music,’ Jared told the Los Angeles Times at the time.
Decades after his money struggles, Jared revealed he still flies in economy on aeroplanes, despite being a Hollywood actor with a net worth of $90millionUSD.
He revealed he often notices fans trying to secretly film him while he keeps a low-profile on his travels as he gave an insight into the reality of his global fame.
He said of fans filming him: ‘Oh yeah, it’s like you’re looking down the barrel of a gun. You can see it with your peripheral vision. Sometimes people take my picture in a restaurant they forget their flash is on.’
Kyle, who charters private jets at $100,000 a pop, was left shocked by the admission as he said: ‘Surely you don’t fly economy.’
Jared’s comments come just weeks before he is due to jet Down Under to kick off 30 Seconds to Mars’ Australian tour with his brother and bandmate Shannon
‘I mean, you gotta get to the show somehow,’ Jared replied. ‘It wasn’t that bad to be honest. You gotta get to where you gotta go.’
Jared’s comments come just weeks before he is due to jet Down Under to kick off 30 Seconds to Mars’ Australian tour with his brother and bandmate Shannon.
The Kings and Queens singer will first kick off the hotly-anticipated Seasons world tour in Melbourne on September 12.
He will then play at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena for the first time in a decade on Saturday, September 14, before wrapping up the action in Brisbane on September 17.
