Asia Argento is starting to sound like some of the men brought down by the #MeToo movement.
The Italian actress has responded to allegations she sexually assaulted a then-underage actor in 2013. She maintained in a statement Tuesday that she is innocent and that her accuser, Jimmy Bennett, is a gold-digging liar. She also claimed it was the idea of her late boyfriend, chef Anthony Bourdain, to pay the alleged victim $380,000 to stop discussing the incident.
“I was linked to [Bennett] during several years by friendship only, which ended when, subsequent to my exposure in the Weinstein case, Bennett — who was then undergoing severe economic problems and who had previously undertaken legal actions against his own family requesting millions in damages — unexpectedly made an exorbitant request of money from me,” Argento said in a statement to journalist Yashar Ali.
The accusations against the actress are particularly jarring considering she has been on the frontlines of the #MeToo movement since it launched in earnest last year when Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was outed as a serial sex abuser.
Argento is one of his accusers.
“Bennett knew my boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain, was a man of great perceived wealth and had his own reputation as a beloved figure to protect,” Argento’s statement continued.
It added, “Anthony insisted the matter be handled privately and this was also what Bennett wanted. Anthony was afraid of the possible negative publicity that such person, whom he considered dangerous, could have brought upon us. We decided to deal compassionately with Bennett’s demand for help and give it to him.”
Bennett’s actions against her are proof of “a long-standing persecution,” she claimed, adding that reports she sexually assaulted him when he was only 17 years old are part of a larger, darker conspiracy against her.
A few thoughts on this:
First, Argento’s response to the Bennett allegation is deeply confusing. Whatever happened to believing the victims? These are the rules (I mostly agree!). What would the “avenging angel” version of Argento think of this week’s Argento? Also, if the allegations are a lie, then why the $380,000 payment? To be fair, giving someone a pile of money in return for their silence isn’t proof of guilt, but it raises many questions that she hasn’t answered. It’d be nice if the person she claims is responsible for the payment were still alive. Perhaps there is a reasonable explanation for all of this, which brings me to the second point.
The New York Times, which broke the story this week, contacted Argento repeatedly with requests for comment. The paper tried repeatedly to get her side of the story. She ducked them. Multiple times. Again, this isn’t proof she sexually abused a minor in 2013, but she isn’t doing herself any favors.
Lastly, and this doesn’t have to do with figuring out whether she’s lying, there’s no way, under any circumstance, in which we’d accept a response like this from anyone else outed by the #MeToo movement.
Weinstein was rightly ridiculed when he responded to the allegations brought against him with a pledge to go after the National Rifle Association. Kevin Spacey was also derided for using his response to allegations of child sexual assault to announce he’s gay. So, too, should we be repulsed by Argento’s attacks on Bennett and her attempts to shift responsibility to a man who can no longer speak for himself.
