Does Jared Leto Have a Girlfriend? All About His Rumored Romance With Valery Kaufman—And His A-List Exes
Jared Leto knows how to keep us guessing. While the Oscar winner once carried a mold of his own head on the Met Gala red carpet, his relationships aren’t nearly as in your face (no pun intended) as his fashion choices. So although he’s a seasoned star known for high-profile roles in movies like House of Gucci and Dallas Buyers Club, it’s unclear exactly who’s played the real-life role of Leto’s girlfriend over the years.
“Even if I was in a relationship or maybe if I was having kids, I don’t know if I would share that information publicly,” the actor—whose latest project is the Apple TV limited series WeCrashed—said in a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone. “You know what I’ve learned about women? I know absolutely nothing about women,” he later added, explaining, “The older I get, it’s just people. I just see people.”
True to his word, Leto has stayed tight-lipped about his relationships over the years. While he’s rumored to have dated model Valery Kaufman on and off since 2015, he’s yet to confirm or even allude to their relationship publicly—but keep reading to find out everything we know about his Jared Leto's (rumored) girlfriend,Valery Kaufman, in addition to all the A-listers he’s been linked to over the years.
Who is Jared Leto’s rumored girlfriend, Valery Kaufman?
Kaufman is a model who’s walked the runway for the likes of Victoria’s Secret, Saint Laurent, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. A catwalk career was a longtime dream for the 27-year-old, who was born in Russia. "My sister and I used to do a lot of beauty contests during our childhood,” she recalled to i-D in 2014. “Since I was 9, I've been dancing like crazy. I didn't know how it was going to happen, but I always knew I would be doing acting or modeling.” Instead of getting scouted like some, Kaufman’s career took off after she sent her photo to modeling agencies. “There's fittings and castings every day, but then when it slows down, the next thing you feel like nothing is happening,” she said of the fast-paced fashion industry. “You almost want to keep on going because you're so used to it.”
While she doesn’t have an IMDb page like Leto, the pair share a love of acting. “I also take acting classes at the New York Film Academy,” she told the outlet, calling acting “a big passion of mine.”
How long have Jared Leto and Valery Kaufman been dating?
While it’s unclear exactly when they met, a source told PEOPLE that Leto and Kaufman started out as friends before things turned romantic. “They have been off and on now for a few years, but seem to spend more time together lately,” the insider said in 2020. The rumored couple were first photographed together in New York City in 2015. They’ve been spotted together sporadically over the years, including grabbing lunch in 2017 and going to the gym together in 2018. The pair were also seen together on a couple of active dates in 2020; they reportedly hiked together in Malibu in June and went rock climbing in September of that year. Kaufman has even met Leto’s mother, as they were all spotted getting lunch together in February 2020.
Related: Is Bradley Cooper Married? Does He Have a Girlfriend? What We Know About the A-Lister's Dating Life
Did Jared Leto date Scarlett Johansson?
Leto and Scarlett Johansson were linked in 2004. Although their relationship was brief, it did leave us with a paparazzi photo that would surely go viral in the age of Twitter: Johansson kissing Leto while he stared off at his flip phone (it was 2004, after all).
It seems the pair also reconnected in 2012, as they were spotted holding hands at the Democratic National Convention.
Some speculated that Johansson referred to Leto in a 2016 Cosmopolitan interview, although she didn’t say which ex-boyfriend she was describing. “Long, long ago, I had someone in my life who was forever unavailable… but, like, so attractively unavailable,” she said. "Rock bottom is the moment when you're like, 'I've lost myself. Why am I standing outside this bar at 1:30 in the morning texting while my friends are inside? Or taking a taxi to see him at some ungodly hour? This isn't me.' That is the moment you've gotta cut it off. Otherwise, it will keep coming back, suck your blood."
The actress married SNL star Colin Jost in October 2020, and they welcomed their first child together in summer 2021. She also shares a daughter, Rose Dorothy Dauriac, with her ex-husband, French journalist Romain Dauriac.
Did Jared Leto date Paris Hilton?
The flip phone photo with Johansson is hardly the only time Leto’s been caught kissing on camera. In 2008, he was photographed making out with socialite Paris Hilton in the Hyde Lounge during the Sundance Film Festival. Despite the kiss, it’s unclear if he ever actually dated Hilton, who wed Carter Reum in November 2021.
Related: Who Is Robert Pattinson's Girlfriend, Suki Waterhouse? All About the New Batman and the Former Model
Did Jared Leto date Cameron Diaz?
Leto and Diaz started dating in 1999 and were even engaged before breaking up in 2003. Diaz ultimately married musician Benji Madden in 2015, and the pair share a 2-year-old son Raddix Madden.
“I was never very proficient with the ladies when I was younger, but I started making up for lost time,” Leto told Rolling Stone in 2013 of his early dating history. The story reported that the star “doesn’t think he’s particularly good boyfriend material at this point in his life.” As Leto put it, “I’m too obsessed with my own creative ambitions and my own goals.”
Who else has Jared Leto dated?
Leto has been linked to some of the biggest names in Hollywood. He sparked romance rumors with several models over the years, as well as Soleil Moon Frye, Ashley Olsen and publishing heiress Lydia Hearst. In 2018, he was linked to Chloe Bartoli, who also famously dated Scott Disick.
While they never dated, he also sparked speculation with Lupita Nyong’o. The stars were both highly successful during the 2014 awards season—she for her role in 12 Years a Slave and he for Dallas Buyers Club. He even referred to her as his “future ex-wife” while accepting the award for Best Supporting Actor at the Independent Spirit Awards that year, adding, “I’m thinking about you.”
Their friendship lasted the test of time, as she toldNet-a-Porterin a 2019 interview, “Jared Leto, he’s still on speed dial, because we were on that [Oscar campaign] journey together and he’s so embracing of me. There was an intimacy that grew from that, that goes beyond the dating rumors, beyond all that.”
Leto’s rumored dating history also includes a who’s-who of pop stars. Us Weekly reported in February 2014 that he was “hooking up” with Miley Cyrus, according to a source. Later that year, there were rumors he hooked up with Katy Perry at Coachella. The music festival appears to be a romantic place for the singer; in 2016, he sparked similar rumors after he was spotted cozying up to Halsey.
Does Jared Leto have a kid?
Not yet! In his 2016 Rolling Stone interview, however, the star imagined what it would be like to meet a child by surprise. “You never know,” he said at the time. “Someone could always come up to a show and give me a little surprise visit. ‘Dad?’ In a way, that would be kind of f***ing beautiful.” He also suggested marriage wasn’t necessarily off the table, describing his bachelorhood as “just how things are” and adding, “I don’t think there’s a definitive decision that I’ve made.”
