ROME (Reuters) - Italian actress Asia Argento, an outspoken advocate in the movement against sexual harassment, denied on Tuesday ever having had sexual relations with Jimmy Bennett, an actor who the New York Times reported had accused her of sexual assault. STUDIO CITY (CBSLA) — Asia Argento, one of the leading figures in the #MeToo movement, agreed to pay her own accuser $380,000 to keep him quiet about an alleged sexual assault that took place when the man was still a minor, the New York Times reported Sunday. Jimmy Bennett, an actor and musician, claims that Asia Argento sexually assaulted him in a California hotel room months before his 17th birthday. "I am deeply shocked and hurt having read the news that is absolutely false," she said, in part. "What is perhaps most egregious, is the timing, which suggests that at the very same time Argento was working on her own secret settlement for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor, she was positioning herself at the forefront of those condemning Mr. Weinstein, despite the fact that her sexual relationship with Mr. Weinstein was between two consenting adults which lasted for more than four years," read the statement, in part. According to documents obtained by the Times through a third party – including communication from Argento’s lawyer and a selfie of the actress and her accuser in bed – Bennett, now 22 years old, sent a notice of intent to sue to Argento in November of last year, describing an incident of “sexual battery’ that he says has detrimentally affected his work and “threatened his mental health.” Initially a child actor, Bennett has appeared in Orphan, Movie 43 and the Amazon show Bosch. Argento and Bennett referred to each other on social media as mother and son, a reference to their The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things characters, and he claims she was a mentor in the legal documents. Since the Weinstein allegations became public, Argento, with the support of Bourdain who was her boyfriend until his suicide in June, has spoken out about sexual harassment both in Hollywood and her home country of Italy and also gave high profile talks on the subject at Harvard University and at the Cannes Film Festival. He Came Forward Because He Felt That Argento’s Support of the #MeToo Movement Was Hypocritical

Bennett’s lawyer stated that the reason he chose to come forward with his experience is because “seeing Ms. Argento present herself as a victim of sexual assault was too much to bear.” Sattro wrote that: “His feelings about that day were brought to the forefront recently when Ms. Argento took the spotlight as one of the many victims of Harvey Weinstein.”

While its unclear what the current relationship is between Bennett and Argento, the two have indirectly corresponded via social media.
American actor Jimmy Bennett accuses Italian actress Asia Argento of having sexual relations with him when he was 17 years old and then paying him $380,000 to keep silent.