One of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s first whistleblowers is now taking heat following a bombshell report alleging she paid off her own accuser.
The alleged assault occurred several years ago when Italian actor Asia Argento was 37 years old and her supposed victim, child actor Jimmy Bennett, was only 17 years old, according to The New York Times. The age of consent in California, it should be noted, is 18 years old.
Bennett threatened to sue Argento in November, one month after she spoke to The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow about her claim that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in 1997, when she was 21 years old.
The young actor, who is now 22, said Argento’s comments about Weinstein led him to recall painful memories of his own experience. Ultimately, Argento reportedly agreed to pay Bennett $380,000 in exchange for his silence.
According to documents sent to the Times via encrypted email, Bennett and Argento reunited on May 9, 2013, at the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, in California, after not seeing one another for several years. They worked together on the 2004 movie, “The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.”
At the hotel, Argento, who has since described the #MeToo movement as “the most important thing that has happened to women since the right to vote,” asked to spend some time alone with the 17-year-old Bennett, who traveled to California with a family member.
When they were alone, Argento allegedly gave Bennett alcohol, showed him notes she’d written to him on hotel stationary and kissed him before pushing him onto the bed and performing oral sex on him. The two actors reportedly then had sex.
Argento posted about the reunion, which she described on Instagram as the “happiest day” of her life.
In a statement from Bennett’s lawyer, Gordon K. Sattro, the young star decided to come forward now because “his feelings were brought to the forefront recently when Ms. Argento took the spotlight as one of the many victims of Harvey Weinstein.”
Rose McGowan, who has been one of the leading voices behind the #MeToo movement, said Monday she was heartbroken to learn about the allegations against Argento, but urged people to “be gentle” because “none of us know the truth of the situation.”
I got to know Asia Argento ten months ago. Our commonality is the shared pain of being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. My heart is broken. I will continue my work on behalf of victims everywhere.
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) August 20, 2018
None of us know the truth of the situation and I’m sure more will be revealed. Be gentle.
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) August 20, 2018
Neither Bennett nor Argento have commented on the Times report.
Sattro, however, said Bennett plans to “continue doing what he has been doing over the past months and years, focusing on his music.”