SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto is suing TMZ over a leaked video where the musician could be heard critiquing Taylor Swift’s music.
The singer is suing the celebrity news site and its parent company, Warner Brothers Entertainment, over the video of him critiquing Taylor’s 1989 album despite knowing it was stolen footage.
In the video, published on December 7, Jared is listening to 1989 and talking about it with an engineer.
He could be heard saying, “I don’t like this at all,” about Taylor’s “Welcome to New York.” He also listens and comments on “Blank Space” and “Style.”
On one of the songs he liked, the Suicide Squad star said, “Yeah, it sounds good. I wanna steal that.”
The video ends with him saying, “I mean f-ck her, I don’t give a f-ck about her, it’s whatever works best for us.”
The TMZ article the accompanied the video, titled “JARED LETO: SCREW TAYLOR SWIFT!! But I’d Love One of Her Hits,” said that Jared was “turning to [Taylor] for musical inspiration.”
The video and the article are still up on the site.
The next day, Jared apologized to Taylor’s fans, saying that he thinks she’s “amazing” and “an incredible example of what’s possible.”
The truth is I think @taylorswift13 is amazing + an incredible example of what’s possible. If I hurt her or her fans my sincerest apologies.
— JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) December 7, 2015
The Hollywood Reporter (THR) then reported on December 9 that Jared is filing a copyright lawsuit against TMZ over the video, which he says was stolen.
THR’s report is based on a copy of Jared’s complaint that they obtained from his Sisyphus Touring company.
According to Jared’s complaint, the clips were shot on September 8 and were delivered to TMZ by the videographer. The videographer was promised $2000 in exchange.
When asked to sign a document saying that he had the legal right to hand over the footage, the videographer refused.
The complaint adds that TMZ “rushed to publish” the clips, but 15 minutes after they did, the videographer said, “Do not post the footage. I do not own it. I do not have permission.”
In a statement given to THR, Jared said, “Last Sunday, I was alerted that 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. Let’s be clear. This was stolen footage. This was an invasion of privacy. And it was both legally and morally wrong.”
Jared also explained why he was filing the lawsuit. “I have chosen to file this lawsuit not because I want 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.” – Rappler.com
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