Earlier this week, I covered Jared Leto’s shade-throwing
video, which was published on TMZ.
As I said at the time, it
seemed like a clip of a longer video, possibly documentary
footage or some kind of behind-the-scenes look at Jared or
his band.
In the video, Jared is listening to some songs off
Taylor Swift’s last album, 1989 , and giving his #hottake on
each song. His criticisms were brief, and not even that bad,
considering he said he liked “Blank Space.” Swifty’s super-
fans attacked Leto and he ended up tweeting out an apology
(which was funny, and sort of shady) to Taylor.
Well, it turns
out that the story about how TMZ got their hands on the
video is more interesting that Swift-shade and now Leto is
suing TMZ.
Jared Leto, the Oscar-winning actor and frontman of the
band Thirty Seconds to Mars, has lodged a notable new
copyright lawsuit against TMZ and parent company Warner
Bros. Entertainment, alleging that the gossip site published a
sensational video after being warned that it was stolen.
Leto
is directing his anger at TMZ for invading his privacy. His
Sisyphus Touring company has brought a copyright lawsuit
that could put the Warner Bros.-owned site on its heels with
some sort of fair use defense. If the lawsuit goes far, it could
also explore TMZ’s reportorial methods. In a complaint filed
in California federal court, obtained by The Hollywood
Reporter, Leto (through Sisyphus Touring) says the footage
was shot Sept. 8 by a videographer retained by him.
This
videographer is said to have delivered the video to TMZ in
exchange for a promised payment of $2,000.
“TMZ requested that Videographer sign a document
confirming he had the legal right to deliver the Footage,”
states the complaint. “Videographer refused to sign such an
acknowledgement. Prior to any broadcast of the Footage,
Plaintiff had advised Defendants that the Footage was
stolen, and that Defendants were not authorized to
disseminate, display, or publish the Footage on the website
TMZ.com or at all.”
The lawsuit adds that TMZ “rushed to publish,” and that 15
minutes after it had done so, the videographer (perhaps
suffering from a crisis of conscience) urged the gossip site,
“Do not post the footage. I do not own it. I do not have
permission.”
Here’s Leto’s full statement:
“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. Regardless of who we are, we should all be able to
talk freely in the privacy of our own homes without the fear
that our unfiltered thoughts or actions will get broadcast to
the world. We have the right to privacy and security and
when we don’t have protections in place to safeguard those
things, we lose the freedom to speak loudly and clearly –
right or wrong – about anything and everything we choose
to. 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.”
While I don’t think it’s particularly smart to pick a fight with
TMZ, I do think Leto’s lawsuit seems above-board.
The
videographer does not and did not own the footage if Leto
himself hired the videographer to film him. And Leto is
probably smart to pick a fight over something that really isn’t
that big of a deal in the long-run. I mean, he took a swipe at
Taylor Swift and that’s all. He offered an apology on Twitter
and that was the extent of the “damage control” needed here.
I get the feeling that Leto has more shady stuff going on in
his life, stuff that would actually put a dent in his reputation,
so why not put his foot down about this right now?
Now, that being said… TMZ is owned by Warner Bros. And
Jared is the Joker in Warner Bros.’s Suicide Squad.
This is an
internal fight too, and I suspect that at the end of the day,
TMZ will probably just remove the video.
Tagged: Jared Leto
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