Jared Leto Returns from Desert Meditation Retreat, Just Now Learns About Coronavirus Pandemic
The Suicide Squad star got some unexpected news after returning from a technology-free retreat
Image via Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Movies News coronavirus
To set the scene, imagine: The man was tired. He had just finished shooting The Little Things, and thought he’d check in on himself. He deserved it! So he booked a silent meditation retreat in the desert, as one does. He locked his phone away, somewhere, anywhere. And, for 12 precious days, he didn’t have to think about Wi-Fi or the world.
Now, imagine that man’s horror when he finally turned his phone on again, 12 days later. While he was working on self-care, a firestorm of push notifications alerted him that entire countries have gone into quarantine. People are panic-buying a year’s supply of toilet paper, and hand sanitizer commands double digits on Amazon.
That man is Jared Leto. And that really happened, some editorializing aside. The Oscar winner wrote on Twitter Tuesday, “Wow. 12 days ago I began a silent meditation in the desert. We were totally isolated. No phone, no communication etc. We had no idea what was happening outside the facility.”
Wow. 12 days ago I began a silent meditation in the desert. We were totally isolated. No phone, no communication etc. We had no idea what was happening outside the facility.
— JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) March 17, 2020
Leto’s tweet quickly went viral, for obvious reasons. It has the stuff of Internet gold: an unexpected, quixotic perspective on the pandemic.
Twitter users swiftly replied:
Celebrities always know what’s best. The world awaits your wisdom and instructions for what we should do during this crisis Jared.
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) March 17, 2020
Yeah prob best to just go back in.
— Pete Yorn (@peteyorn) March 17, 2020
Thank you Jared. We’re all struggling during this time. I don’t have the virus but I did have to read these tweets
— grace spelman (@GraceSpelman) March 17, 2020
Leto addressed the post, writing: “Walked out yesterday into a very different world. One that’s been changed forever. Mind blowing—to say the least. I’m getting messages from friends and family all around the globe and catching up on what’s going on.”
Walked out yesterday into a very different world. One that’s been changed forever. Mind blowing – to say the least. I’m getting messages from friends and family all around the globe and catching up on what’s going on.
— JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) March 17, 2020
Ah, to have been Jared Leto for those 12 days, so blissfully unaware.