But when the band hosted a three-day wellness retreat for their fans – or “the echelon” as they’re called – on a private island in Croatia in 2019, it only fueled the cult comparisons.
A photo of Leto, 54, and festivalgoers all dressed in white, standing with their arms raised up to the sky, did little to dispel those claims; neither did a snapshot of the singer leading a talk while wearing a tie-dye “This Is a Cult” T-shirt.
Those images are far more concerning in the wake of a new BBC documentary, Jared Leto: Hollywood‘s Darkest Secret, in which multiple women accuse the actor of sexual misconduct. The claims follow years of whispers and allegations that never seemed to hinder the Masters of the Universe star.
“He loved being this grand conductor who could essentially control people’s lives and have them flock at his feet and the more the crowds grew, the more it spiraled,” a source told RadarOnline.com. “It gave Jared this colossal sense of self-importance and fed his arrogance even more.”
So much so, “this is a guy who would openly brag that he could get his fans to do whatever he wanted,” claimed the source. “His ego was off the charts and the way he swaggered around with this sense of entitlement made it seem like he was some type of self-appointed God,” and a “totally untouchable” one at that.
