Asia Argento Paid Off Underage Sex Assault Accuser—After Bashing Harvey For Rape
Aug. 20 2018, Updated 2:03 p.m. ET
Asia Argento was one of the first women to accuse sleazy producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and misconduct—but a new investigation has revealed the XXX actress has been hiding some dark secrets of her own.
According to the New York Times, Argento, 42, paid off former child actor Jimmy Bennett, after he accused her of sexually assaulting him when he was underage!
The much-younger actor, who played Argento’s son in The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things said that the actress assaulted him in a California hotel room when he was just 17 and she was 37.
According to legal documents obtained by the Times, Bennett claimed Argento kissed him and gave him oral sex inside a hotel suite on May 9, 2013—three years before she began dating Anthony Bourdain.
Bennett, 22, and Argento then had sexual intercourse, which the former child actor claimed led to a series of emotional problems for him.
To prove his case, Bennett showed the lawyers a series of texts between him and Argento, as well as some photos of them naked in bed together.
Bennett asked for $3.5 million in damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, lost wages, assault and battery, according to his lawyer, He also stated that his income dropped significantly after the alleged assault. Bennett made more than $2.7 million in the five years before the 2013 incident, but due to the trauma that followed the sexual encounter, his income dropped to about $60,000 a year.
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Argento agreed to pay him $380,000, with the condition that he give her all rights to the photographs.
Carrie Goldberg, Argento’s lawyer in the case, sent the actress an email in April confirming the deal with Bennett and describing the money as being financial “help” for the actor.
“We hope nothing like this ever happens to you again,” Goldberg wrote to Argento. “You are a powerful and inspiring creator and it is a miserable condition of life that you live among shitty individuals who’ve preyed on both your strengths and your weaknesses.”
The revelation comes as a shock, since RadarOnline.com readers know Argento declared herself an advocate for the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. She also openly spoke out about allegedly being raped by Harvey Weinstein, 66, and was one of the many Hollywood stars who helped get him fired from his company and sent to rehab.
Asia Argento has yet to speak out about the incident and deal.
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