No one pays attention to actor/musician Jared Leto, not even when he lost 30 pounds to play an AIDs victim and a transsexual, rendering him almost unrecognizable. So I don’t know what kind of response to expect with this story, as outrageous as it is. Leto was interviewed on UK radio station XFM to promote his band 30 Seconds To Mars. He was asked about the strangest thing he’s ever been sent by a fan, and he claimed it was an actual ear. I listened to the audio (at 7:15 in the embedded audio on this page) and he sounds totally serious about it and not like he’s joking. He then claims offhand that he poked a hole in the ear and wore it as a necklace, but that part sounds like he’s just being macabre.

So will people care that fans are sending Jared Leto actual body parts? Were said body parts from a living person or just from a cadaver, say from someone crazy who has access to dead bodies on the regular? This story leaves so many questions unanswered, and what’s worse is the lack of follow-up from Leto. He drops this huge bombshell and then never reveals if he notified authorities that someone mailed him a damn human ear. That’s what allegedly happened though.

Jared Leto gets a lot of letters, gifts and photos from fans, but there’s one present that stuck out above all the rest.

In an interview with XFM, the 30 Seconds To Mars frontman, 41, revealed that a fan sent him their severed ear in the mail.

“The fans are an incredibly committed and passionate group of people. Going to a show is kind of like visiting Japan, you expect gifts on your arrival. You get all kinds of wonderful things,” Leto explained before describing the weirdest thing he’s ever received.

“Someone cut their ear off once and sent it to me, that was very strange. A whole ear. The Van Gogh move. The note just said, ‘Are you listening?’ I never knew who it was, who’s missing their ear out there,” he quipped, confessing what he did with the gross gift.

“I poked a hole in it and wore it as a necklace,” Leto joked, letting admirers know, “Just don’t put your entire body in a case and send it to us.”

Leto, who is also an actor, has some devoted (and bizarre) fans, that’s for sure.

[From The Huffington Post]

Why would he assume that someone cut off their ear for him? If all they wrote was “are you listening,” wouldn’t he think the ear was obtained in some other (easier) way, like from a morgue? I don’t know why I care so much about this story, it just bothers me that he never contacted the FBI or whomever would be responsible for body parts sent through the mail. (It seems like it would be the FBI.) Or maybe he did contact them and revealing that part of the story or focusing on it too much creeps him out. I don’t know why I’m taking him seriously, this probably never happened and he’s just pulling dead ear stories out of his ass. Since people barely talked about him when he became an emaciated woman, he’s got to up his game somewhat.

Jared Leto is shown at the airport earlier this month. Credit: Pacific Coast News. He’s also shown at Much Music on 9-13-12. Credit: WENN.com. Photo of him on set in character is from December, 2012. Credit: FameFlynet

Leto in character last November for Dallas Buyers Club

You know that movie in which Matthew McConaughey plays an AIDS victim, The Dallas Buyers Club, and for which he lost so much weight? Well Jared Leto co-stars in that film, he plays another AIDS sufferer, a transsexual woman, and he lost just about as much weight for that role as McConaughey did.

Like McConaughey, Leto is almost back to normal a few months after shooting wrapped, (new photos of him are here) and he told E! that he lost 30 pounds back then and had dropped down to just 116 pounds. He’s 5’9″ tall so I checked that BMI, 17.1, and it’s only classified as “underweight,” not “severely underweight.” Damn! What do you have to do to get a “severely underweight” classification? He also admitted that he did it by starving, which he’s revealed before. E! also has a video interview with Jared to accompany this story, and I found it really interesting. I don’t remember ever seeing him interviewed before and he comes across as very professional and dedicated. Gah, I can’t believe I’m writing that about Jordan Catalano. He focuses more on what he did for the role than the mechanics of how he lost the weight. He said “the role required that commitment from me.” Here’s more:

Jared Leto plays a transsexual with AIDS in the ’80s in his first film in five years, The Dallas Buyers Club.

You may have seen some of the shocking images of photos of him while shooting the movie. Like his costar Matthew McConaughey, he lost about 30 pounds for the role. The movie is the real-life story of a Texan with AIDS (McConaughey) in the 1980s who smuggled alternative drug treatments into the U.S. from Mexico

“I got down to 116 or something,” Leto told me yesterday at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW.

He explained, “I just basically didn’t eat. I ate very little.”

But it wasn’t just about becoming sickly thin. “I had done similar things with weight, but this was different,” Leto said. “I think the role demanded that commitment…It was about how does that effect how I walk, how I talked, who I am, how I feel. You know, you feel very fragile and delicate and unsafe.”

Not everyone he knew was aware of what he was doing. “It’s not a great thing to see,” Leto said. “If you run into people or see family who don’t know what you’re doing, they think that you’re sick.”
Leto was in Austin this week to promote Artifact, a documentary about his band 30 Seconds to Mars’ legal battle with music label EMI.

[From E! Online]

Here are photos around the time Leto was filming, he shaved off his eyebrows too! Some of these are by his BFF, Terry Richardson. He’s also shown out with Richardson last month, on February 21. What is it with that guy? Is he really charming along with being a creepy sexual predator?

I couldn’t find a release date or trailer for Dallas Buyer’s Club. It’s in post-production and I would guess it’s out later this year, but I can’t confirm that.

Leto last month:

photo credit: Pacific Coast News, Terry Richardson and WENN.com

Here are more photos of Scarlett Johansson and that awful boob vine dress that she wore to the Hitchcock premiere. Scarlett’s been all over the place lately and even filled in for Al Roker on the “Today” show, which was pretty cute. She’s also got a new French hipster boyfriend, but a new article in this week’s Star would have us believe that ScarJo is really torn up about her love life of recent times. Not only has Scarlett bid farewell to Nate Naylor (the most beautiful man in the world), but she’s also watched her ex-husband, Ryan Reynolds, marry Blake Lively in very short order. If I were ScarJo, I’d probably be the most depressed about dating Sean Penn and his tragic toupees (Florence Welch, this could be your future). Here’s the story from Star:

Scarlett Johansson has a body — and bank account — that most women would kill for. However, Star has learned that the Avengers actress is distraught over ex-husband Ryan Reynolds’ new marriage to Blake Lively and has thrown herself into a dangerous wild-child phase. “Scarlett’s been partying pretty hard every night,” tattles the insider. “She was totally out of control in Moscow recently during a promotional event for Moet & Chandon champagne. She was drinking nonstop and barely slept. IT was obvious that she was trying to numb her feelings.”

Adding to Scarlett’s pain, says the insider, is her recent split form ad exec Nate Naylor. “She’s not used to going home alone — it’s a shock to her system. The fact that Ryan is happily married while she’s single again has done a numbe ron her. And the drinking is taking its toll — she’s been crying because she feels so fat.”

To lift her spirits, Scarlett decided to get a permanent pick-me-up. “She went out and got this ‘Lucky You’ tattoo on her rib cage because she’s feeling a bit unlucky,” reveals the source. But that luck failed her when she looked for comfort in the arms of former beau Jared Leto. “She thought a fling with Jared would make her feel better, but since it was only a hookup, it only made things worse,” the tipster admits. “Scarlett is so depressed … I’ve never seen her like this.”

[From Star, print edition, December 10, 2012]

To be fair, Scarlett never really (even though she was a relative child star) had a “wild-child phase,” so I don’t really see the harm in her letting loose for a bit as long as she doesn’t do something stupid like drive drunk. I can believe this story though because Scar herself has admitted that she’s never been single for long, so I guess she’s one of those people who always has to be with someone. She probably did hook up with Jared Leto recently too, but at least it was before he shaved his eyebrows and purposely became emaciated. Even if this French artist guy isn’t really a thing, ScarJo will likely get her MoJo back in no time at all.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Kaiser has been covering Matthew McConaughey’s weight loss for the film The Dallas Buyers Club, based on the true story of a group of men suffering from AIDS in the 1980s who banded together to smuggle and distribute then-illegal antiviral drugs from around the world. Her take is that it’s not necessary to concern troll McConaughey about his weight and health, since he’s slimmed down so dramatically for a role. I agree, and think the same about Jared Leto. Leto is playing a transsexual in the film, you can see some photos of him in character here.

Remember when Leto got dramatically overweight to play John Lennon’s killer in Chapter 27? That was back in 2008. Now he’s going in the opposite direction, and from the looks of him he’s been as successful at transforming for his character as McConaughey has. These are some new photos taken by Terry Richardson, natch, in which you can see Leto’s weight loss. He’s also shaved off his eyebrows for the role. (I just thought he’d dyed them blonde, but they’re gone.) He looks much different, and has admitted that he’s achieved this through starvation, basically. This is pretty much what McConaughey said about his weight loss being “90% diet.” Here’s more:

Jared Leto, who signed on to the flick just a few weeks ago, has already undergone a dramatic transformation for his part in the drama — debuting a newly scary-skinny bod and shaving off his eyebrows — in order to play a transsexual woman with AIDS in 1980s Texas.

Despite his intense weight-loss process — Leto told Vulture at the IFP Gotham Awards in NYC Tuesday he’s been fasting for the last month or so — the actor says he’s more concerned with mastering his character’s grooming techniques, like waxing his body (and facial) hair.

“Your body goes through weird stages [when fasting],” he shared. “Sometimes it’s hard to hold on to water. But for me, it’s not about the most weight I can lose, it’s more to represent the character. I’m focused on what it means to be a transsexual woman.”

As hungry as he might be (he admitted to feeling lightheaded), Leto, 40, is also doing his best to look on the bright side.

“Historically, people have [fasted] for pursuit of self, to achieve a meditative state, so I’m hoping for that, and not the other things,” he said, laughing. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

[From US Weekly]

Well he looks the part and good for him for being committed to it, but we’ll see how he can act. I haven’t seen him in anything for a long time (nothing I can remember really since My So Called Life. I guess he was in Fight Club too), and he hasn’t made a movie since 2009. He focuses more on his music career I guess. You know, the most I hear about this guy is when he’s dating someone or losing or gaining weight.

It will be quite a while before this movie is out, since it’s filming now. I’m hoping it’s critically acclaimed and a hit for McConaughey’s sake. I’m really rooting for him lately. Leto is just kind of strange to me, I don’t have strong feelings about him either way. He seems like a weird guy, and I’ve thought that for years.

Here are some more photos from Terry Richardson’s site, as well as Leto at an event recently. No eyebrows!

In April with fans at Coachella:

some photos credit: WENN.com

Here we have some photos from the Gotham Film Awards at Cipriani in NY last night, sponsored by the Independent Filmmaker Project, which The LA Times describes as “the largest organization of independent filmmakers in the U.S.” The LA Times also has a list of the winners if you’re interested.

Emily Blunt took home part of the Ensemble Award for Your Sister’s Sister, also starring Mark Duplass and Rosemarie DeWitt. (I haven’t seen it, but it came out this summer and you can get the DVD through Netflix. If it’s not on streaming I’m not likely to watch it.) As far as her fashion, she wore this bizarre, tight, paper white Calvin Klein cutout dress. I really dislike this dress and I especially dislike her silver Jimmy Choo sandal-like pumps. I guess there are worse cutout dresses, but overall this is very plain and underwhelming. Plus it’s squeezing her girls in tight. Can she even take a full breath? Her hair and makeup are really pretty, though. She’s had some Botox and it shows, but if she lays off it for a while it will settle.

In contrast we have a radiant Amy Adams, whose dress I love but whose styling leaves something to be desired. Her eye makeup is way too heavy, including her blush. (Or it could be the lighting.) Still, it’s Amy so I can’t find too much fault with her look. I do love her Giorgio Armani black gown with that glorious structural detail at the bodice. This is how you do matching shoes without it looking like overkill. What a knockout she is.

Here’s Marion Cotillard, who was honored with a career achievement award at the ceremony. She’s in a navy blue v-neck Christian Dior gown with a full skirt. The jacket collar falls flat for me, and overall this dress just looks very conservative. Still, she’s Marion, she’s not trying to show skin or be flashy.

Look at how lovely she is. Dior probably has some of the most talented makeup artists in the world.

Here’s Matt Damon, who was also honored with a career achievement. His wife Luciana’s dotted 50s dress is both sexy and demure and I love her hair. If she has extensions, and I’m betting she does, they’re very well done. One complaint: I don’t love her contrasting shoes,

Matt looks good bald, doesn’t he?

Matt’s other BFF, John Krasinski, was also there last night. The anti-fracking film they wrote together, Promised Land, is out in the US in wide release on January 4th, but it’s out in limited release on December 28th. Just in time for this year’s awards.

Look at this face for a moment and see if you can guess who this is…. Are you ready? It’s Jared Leto! Yes he looks like a corpse, but he’s starring in that movie filming now with Matthew McConaughey, The Dallas Buyers Club, and he’s also playing an AIDS victim and transvestite. (Hence the eyebrows. Fill them with some powder when you’re off set, Jared!) So this extreme weight loss is for a role. Jared sure knows how to yo-yo and he’s been on both extremes now.

Photo credit: FameFlynet and WENN.com

This is Jared Leto. FOR REAL!!! I didn’t even recognize him. If the photo agency hadn’t labeled them, I would have had absolutely no idea. Jared scored a part in Dallas Buyer’s Club, that film about men dying of AIDS in the 1980s who would travel to Mexico and buy cheap antiretroviral drugs. This is the same film with the newly-emaciated Matthew McConaughey, who is also playing a man dying of AIDS. They’re filming in New Orleans!

According to IndieWire, Jared is playing a “cross-dressing drug smuggler [who draws] the FDA into the fray.” Steve Zahn has also signed on to the film as a Texas lawman who is sympathetic to the group’s cause. The cause being – within the context of the 1980s and the early days of the AIDS crisis – that people dying of AIDS needed to get help wherever they could, from the FDA, from the law, from the system and from each other.

I think it’s really interesting that Jared has taken this part, his first movie role since 2009. He’s been a “rock star” for so many years now, I sometimes forget that he was once an up-and-coming actor. I’m guessing the part he was offered was really interesting, and good enough to draw Jared away from his music career for a few months. When he was young, I always thought “he would make a beautiful woman.” But you know what? Not so much. But he does have surprisingly great legs, right?

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.

Does anyone remember when Scarlett Johansson and Jared Leto dated way back when? I think it was the early 2000s, and a story in this week’s Star pinpoints the fleeting romance as going down in 2004. Well it’s been several romances later for both of them, and now Scarlett is dating Nate Naylor, the most beautiful man in the universe. There’s a bit of trouble brewing, however, for Jared Leto has allegedly been texting up a storm in the direction of Scarlett, who is (also allegedly) the only girl who ever dumped him. He supposedly wants a second chance, and Scarlett isn’t exactly discouraging his advances.

Of course, this is all happening over the phone, and Scarlett and Jared haven’t seen each other in years. All the same, Morrissey Jr. is reportedly steaming over the situation. Because any red-blooded guy would be totally jealous of a guy who dresses like the hipster Pete Doherty while attending Coachella, right? Here’s Star’s take on the matter:

Scarlett Johansson’s boyfriend, Nate Naylor, may be the envy of men everywhere, but when you’re dating an A-list girl, every man’s a rival. And, according to a source, Nate’s biggest nemesis is none other than pretty-boy Jared Leto.

“Nate is especially threatened by Jared,” says a friend. “He jokes that the only girl he knows who is prettier than Jared Leto is Scarlett.

“Nate’s jealousy is firmly rooted in the wild fling Jared and ScarJo had back in 2004. Since then, Jared has torn through a bevy of beauties, but he never got over Scarlett.

“Jared still holds out hope that they might get back together again,” says the source. “She was the only girl to ever break his heart, and he still talks about her all the time.”

Scarlett, 27, is reportedly “flattered” by Jared’s enduring affection, and it’s become a source of tension. “One time she even took a caled from Jared during one of their romantic dinners,” says the friend. “It turned into a big fight.” At press time, an even bigger confrontation was looming.

Sparks were about to fly on June 29, when Scarlett — who hasn’t seen her old amour in years — was scheduled to attend a star-studded fund-raiser for President Obama that Jared, 40, was throwing at Chateau Marmont in L.A. “She’s all stressed out about what she’s going to wear, which is so not like her,” a friend said before the event. “This was a red flag to Nate.”

Nate, of course, was planning toa ttend and keep “a close eye on things” — and he’s ripe for a showdown. “Nate is ready to explode,” said the friend. “There’s only so much a man can take.

[From Star, print edition, July 15, 2012]

Ha. I certainly doubt that Nate is “ready to explode” after he failed to even react when some dude harrassed ScarJo at a nightclub. More like Nate is just ready to crack open a beer and pretend like nothing is happening. Perhaps he’s mildly annoyed, but Nate’s probably safe with ScarJo staying with him for the time being. She seems like she’s tired of dating famous douchebags and is enjoying dating a non-famous douchebag for once. A lower maintenance douchebag, if you will.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

It was less than two weeks ago when In Touch Weekly claimed that Ashley Olsen and Johnny Depp may have been hooking up in Ashley’s NYC apartment. In Touch claimed that Johnny was spotted by many people coming out of Ashley’s building, having been in her apartment overnight (allegedly, although some reports claim that Depp was in Ashley Olsen’s building for business, and that he didn’t spend the night). It was a pretty gross story, what with Johnny seeming to be in the midst of a full-blown midlife crisis, and Ashley being all of 25 years old. I kind of bought the story because A) Ashley looks like Johnny’s type and B) Why not?

So, if you believed that story, I don’t know what you’ll make of this – the New York Daily News claims that Ashley and her former lover Jared Leto were “rekindling” their romance (“boning”) the other night:

ASHLEY OLSEN and Jared Leto were looking like they’ve rekindled their on-again, off-again romance on Sunday night. The 25-year-old fashion designer and the 40-year-old 30 Seconds to Mars front man — who dated briefly in 2005 and were reportedly spotted making out in 2008 — enjoyed a very flirtatious meal at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills.

The pair were escorted to a reserved booth around 5 p.m. and couldn’t stop touching each other. Leto played with the twin’s hair, caressed her arm and even playfully poked her with his fork. (We’re not touching that one with a 10-foot butter knife.) After Leto paid for their salads, the two snacked on each other some more: Olsen hugged him and put her head on his lap. Reps for Olsen and Leto did not respond by deadline.

[From NYDN]

Is it weird that I don’t have a problem with the idea of Jared and Ashley? They make some kind of crazy sense together, although I had forgotten that there were rumors about them back in day too. Now, I don’t think much of Jared Leto in general – he’s a try-hard, and I find him rather douchey, honestly. And I’ve never really formed an opinion about Ashley and Mary-Kate, other than my opinion that their “twin brain” is extremely creepy. Ashley could do better, I’m sure. But would she? Will she? Probably not. This is her type, I think. I’m sure at some point she’ll hook up with James Franco too.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

I’ve always sort of liked Nicky Hilton, although my general warmth towards is probably because she simply looks normal and well-adjusted compared to her sister. You know what I mean? Stand her next to Paris, I’m always going to pick Nicky. Put Nicky alone, and I’ll barely care about her. Anyway, this story doesn’t do much to make me like Nicky. Nicky has been single ever since she and David Zatzenberg broke up over the summer – I’ve been slightly surprised that she hasn’t relaunched herself with some big new relationship, but once again, she’s not Paris. The Enquirer claims that Nicky was tying to make something happen with Jared Leto, though. Fortunately and unfortunately, it’s a no-go, because Jared couldn’t even be bothered to show up for their “date”.

Ever seen a celebutante seethe?! Sitting in the Chateau Marmont garden waiting for hunky date Jared Leto, socialite Nicky Hilton – after telling the restaurant manager: “Show Jared Leto to my table when he arrives, he’s my lunch date” – sat down and waited… and waited… and then started to feverishly text and dial her delinquent date, who’s managed to show up on time for assignations with glamour girls like Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johansson – and Nick’s own sis, Paris Hilton.

Shockingsly, Leto was still a no-show after a whipping 90 minutes, and Nicky – looking ready to explode – abruptly grabbed her purse and stormed out!

[From The Enquirer, print edition]

That IS embarrassing. It went down at the Marmont too, which means there were probably some high-profile witnesses to Nicky being stood up. It makes feel bad for her for two reasons: one, she got stood up. Two, she was happy to be going on a lunch date with Jared Leto. Rough. That boy is… rough. Not in looks – in looks, he’s still Jordan Catalano. In attitude, though, it’s all try-hard and sad and uncomfortable. He probably thought it was funny that he stood her up. Gross.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I don’t get Jared Leto. Like, at all. We always get requests for him for Hot Guy Friday, and those requests always make my ass itch. Seriously, ladies? HIM? I mean… I had a brief moment of thinking he was hot back when he was a kid on My So Called Life, but that was a long, long, long time ago. He’s been this douche for so long… don’t you think we can stop with the Jordan Catalano references? He’s not that guy anymore, if he ever was that guy. He’s just some dude who thinks he’s so hardcore – and high fashion – because he’s in a band and he hangs out with John Galliano or whatever.

Anyway, these are new photos of Jared in LA yesterday. I’m calling this his new hair style, but he’s been doing the same color for more than a month now. He’s still using product to get it to stand up like that. This is a boy who has a lot of mirror time, you can tell. He may play that game where he’s like “Oh, I’m a pretty boy, I’m punk, I’m IN A BAND” but you know he stands there for a good twenty minutes getting his hair to do a perfect platinum mohawk or the perfect blonde combover, or this, the perfect “key in the electric socket” style. Or even worse, he pays someone to do that to his hair.

I do like his coat, though. Coat porn isn’t enough to get him on HGF… but I do want it. Also: is he wearing Spiderman gloves?!?

Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.