Jared Leto has opened up about the financial challenges and hardships Thirty Seconds to Mars faced during their rise to fame, revealing a time when the band was saddled with “millions of dollars in debt”.
In a recent conversation with Australia’s “Kyle and Jackie O Show,” Leto recalled the challenges Thirty Seconds to Mars faced after releasing their sophomore album.
In 2005, a disagreement arose regarding Leto and his brother Shannon’s most successful album, “A Beautiful Lie”, which marked the band’s rise to prominence. The album sold nearly 3 million copies, but a dispute with their record label, EMI, resulted in significant financial liability for the band.
Leto claimed that the band owed EMI over $2.7 million and never received any money from the sales of their hit album.
“We sold millions of copies, and then we found out that not only had we not been paid a dime, but we were owed millions of dollars,” Leto told the host.
“We fought. They sued us for $30 million for breach of contract and then we made a movie about it,” he added. “So, anyway, we went through that crazy period in our lives and it’s great to be on the other side.”
The rock star was referring to the 2012 documentary “Artifact,” which delves into the tense legal battle between Thirty Seconds to Mars and their record label surrounding a $30 million breach of contract lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in 2008, after the band failed to fulfill its contractual obligations and failed to release the third album of a five-album deal, leading to a dispute over royalties.
The film, which debuted at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival, faced a pivotal moment when Leto candidly discussed the impact the conflict had on him and his brother.
During the “Kyle and Jackie O Show” interview, Leto also spoke about the challenges of earning an income as a musician today, attributing the difficulty to many external influences and rising costs.
“You make money on the road, and these days it’s pretty hard because of inflation,” he said before adding, “I’ll do it for free. It’s nice to be out there.”
In a previous interview with Rolling Stone, the “Closer To The Edge” singer shared why he made the documentary.
“This is a very real lawsuit. It’s not just a headline,” he explained. “We have the very real possibility of owing a company $30 million, and our music and our albums are tied up in court.
Ultimately, Thirty Seconds to Mars decided to settle the lawsuit and signed with EMI’s Virgin Records.
“I can’t go into the details of the deal, but it wasn’t about making a big buck,” Leto previously told the Los Angeles Times. “That day is over and done with in recorded music.”
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Leto has an estimated net worth of $90 million.
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Jared Leto, 30 Seconds to Mars