Asia Argento, a figurehead of the #MeToo movement and the ex-girlfriend of Anthony Bourdain was reportedly been accused of sexual assault on a minor. This is not surprising at all.
Legal documents revealed that Asia Argento paid former co-star and child actor Jimmy Bennett $380,000 after he accused the actress of sexual assault. The events happened in 2013, in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey. At this time, Jimmy Bennett was two months past his 17th birthday and Asia Argento was 37 years old. Since the age of consent in California is 18 years old, the assault qualifies as statutory rape.
Legal documents obtained by the New York Times state that the 2013 encounter was "a betrayal that precipitated a spiral of emotional problems.
The fallout from "a sexual battery was so traumatic that it hindered Mr. Bennett's work and income and threatened his mental health, according to a notice of intent to sue that his lawyer sent in November to Richard Hofstetter, Mr. Bourdain's longtime lawyer, who was also representing Ms. Argento at the time.
NY Times, Asia Argento, a #MeToo Leader, Made a Deal With Her Own Accuser
The document lays out Mr. Bennett's account:
Ms. Argento asked the family member to leave so she could be alone with the actor. She gave him alcohol to drink and showed him a series of notes she had written to him on hotel stationery. Then she kissed him, pushed him back on the bed, removed his pants and performed oral sex. She climbed on top of him and the two had intercourse, the document says. She then asked him to take a number of photos.
Ibid.
As he was driven home to his parent's house, Bennett began to feel "extremely confused, mortified, and disgusted.
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