Welcome to Outrage Watch, HitFix's semi-regular rundown of entertainment-related kerfuffles. Not feeling anxious enough already? Get your fix of righteous indignation below, and stay posted for outrage updates throughout the week.
This just in: Jared Leto is so, so lucky he didn't pull any of his “Method” shenanigans on Suicide Squad co-star Viola Davis, who told E! when asked about his dubious “gifts” on set: “I did not receive any personally or else I would have got my husband who was called the 'headache ball' back in the day when he played football. I would have said, 'Take care of the Joker.””
In case you hadn't heard, Leto's “presents” to his co-stars during shooting included such charming items as used condoms, anal beads, live rats and dead pigs filled with bullets to, I guess, “get in character” for his role as the Joker.
At the risk of being tagged as a “prude”: that sounds like overkill to me! And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Today, for example, journalist and screenwriter Danny Bowes posted an op-ed on Medium decrying Leto's apparent confusion on the “Method” style of acting, writing in part: “The report that Jared Leto sent his Suicide Squad castmates used condoms was both gross – a case could be made that it constitutes sexual assault – and the nadir of misunderstanding about what Method acting is and how it should be undertaken.”
Users on Twitter and elsewhere have also been slamming the actor for his extreme antics, most prominently actress and activist Rose McGowan via her official Facebook account:
I legit think Jared Leto should be in Guantanamo for sending Will Smith a condom full of jizz.
– devin faraci (@devincf) April 14, 2016
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@JaredLeto I am fairly sure the real joker would have thought your condom gag asinine and juvenile.
– Andrew Kornblatt (@akornblatt) April 13, 2016
That Jared Leto gift story is weird as fuck. Creepy fucker. Surely it's against the law to send someone a used condom? It's disgusting.
– MritalkApple (@MritalkApple123) April 13, 2016
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real talk if someone sent me a used condom and anal beads i'd probably call the fuckin cops. jared leto sounds like a creep
– Queen Bae (@LavaBootz) April 13, 2016
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I don't care who the fuck he is if Jared_Leto sent me a used condom I would press charges against him.
– yillenhoolahay (@sharminated) April 17, 2016
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can we stop humoring jared leto's act of sending used condom to his co-stars he is so gross and creepy
– annie (@ITELLHlMREAL) April 15, 2016
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If Jared Leto sent me a used condom and excused it by saying he was going method as The Joker I'd want him locked away. Lunatic.
– Scott Wilson (@HeartofFire) April 14, 2016
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Note: the above sampling includes only those tweets that refrained from trafficking in fantasies of assaulting Leto, though believe me, there are plenty of those to go around. Let's not fight the Joker by becoming the Joker, you dig?