CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses alleged sexual misconduct.
In the wake of the sexual misconduct allegations levelled against Jared Leto (which he has expressly denied), Australian model and actress Ellie Gonsalves has opened up with her own claims about the star, sharing screenshots of messages she alleges she received from him in order to highlight the “disturbing, uncomfortable, and inappropriate interactions” women receive from Hollywood men.
In her Facebook post, shared earlier this month, Gonsalves wrote that “with everything surfacing around Jared Leto… I wanted to share my opinion”.
Included in the post were screenshots of alleged previous messages from Leto, in which the actor appears to have reached out to her, via his team, over both email and direct messages on Instagram.
Per the screenshots, the email exchanges appear to have been sent back in 2014, while the date of Leto’s alleged Instagram message is not shown.
“I don’t know this man personally or had any interactions with him as I have declined all previous invitations,” Gonsalves wrote, adding that her post “isn’t about just the one man, [but] about the system that shields them”.
The actress went on to write that if “the public is trying to hold Jared accountable for what he’s allegedly done, it’s also fair to examine the role of those around him”.
Much of Gonsalves’ post was aimed at celebrities “who use their teams… to interact with women on their behalf” — which she described as a “tactic” that “allows toxic environments and abusive power dynamics to thrive”.
“It creates a buffer between them and accountability,” Gonsalves said of celebrities’ use of intermediaries to contact people.
“It makes the approach feel more legitimate, less threatening, and gives them plausible deniability if anything goes wrong.”
Elsewhere, Gonsalves reiterated that her post was “in general” and “not targeted towards one person”, adding that her broader message was “to stop separating the individual from the infrastructure around them”.
“Silence, complicity, and ‘just doing my job’ aren’t excuses when people get hurt”, she wrote, “protecting and empowering people who stand up needs to be a priority.”
In a follow-up post shared on Thursday, Gonsalves again clarified that she is “not making accusations” or “legal claims” about Leto, but instead wanted to share what she described as “own personal experience and the overwhelming response it sparked”.
“These behaviours are often facilitated, protected, and normalised by the teams surrounding these public figures,” she claimed.
“That complicity is part of the problem.”
It comes weeks after Leto was accused of sexual misconduct by nine different women in an exposé published by Air Mail.
Two of his accusers, Los Angeles-based DJ Allie Teilz and model Laura La Rue, claimed they were both underage at the time of the alleged incidents.
Leto has repeatedly denied these accusations.
“All of the allegations are expressly denied,” a spokesperson for Leto told Air Mail.
Lead images: Ellie Gonsalves/Instagram and Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
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