Jared Leto Reportedly Tried To Sabotage Joaquin Phoenix's Joker Movie

This Joker actor may have had a serious case of jealousy.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jared Leto, who portrayed the Joker in 2016's Suicide Squad, reportedly attempted to sabotage director Todd Phillips' standalone Joker movie, which stars Joaquin Phoenix in the title role.

The outlet cites anonymous sources that claim Leto was so hurt by and frustrated over the news that Warner Bros. was moving ahead with another Joker film that wasn't going to feature him as the infamous DC Comics baddie that he tried to kill the film before it officially got off the ground. Insiders with information about the situation and whom THR claims are, quote, "familiar with Leto's behavior" have indicated that Leto lodged bitter complaints to his agents at the Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles the same company that represents Joker director Phillips after learning of the rival project.

Leto is said to have asked his agents at CAA to stop Joker from getting made, allegedly claiming that the mere existence of the project was something of a slap in the face. The actor, who won an Academy Award for his work in Dallas Buyers Club, reportedly argued that, quote, "he wasn't being treated properly as an Oscar winner."

Additionally, Leto allegedly asked his music manager Irving Azoff, an entertainment executive who at the time managed Leto's band 30 Seconds to Mars, to contact, quote, "the leader" of Warner Bros.' parent company. It's unclear whether Leto requested Azoff to call Jeff Bewkes at Time Warner or Randall Stephenson at AT&T, as both were head honchos at the time. Regardless, the alleged reason behind Leto's inquiry to Azoff was to, quote, "get Warners to kill the Phillips film."

It's also been reported that Warner Bros. executives were "nervous" about Joker, given its dark tone and gritty, more violent approach to the namesake comic book character's origin. The studio gave the project the greenlight nonetheless, but approved a budget of only $55 million a sum that's small in comparison to other comic book movies and a budget that some people at Warner Bros. were reportedly hoping would frustrate Phillips and cause him to abandon the project altogether. Of course, we know that didn't end up happening. Keep watching the video to see how Jared Leto reportedly tried to sabotage Joaquin Phoenix's Joker movie.

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