Asia Argento, the actress and director who has been accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old, then paying him a $380,000 settlement, has denied the allegations in a lengthy new statement. The allegations arrived courtesy of Mondays shocking New York Times report, which claimed that the actress sexually assaulted actor and musician Jimmy Bennett in a California hotel room in 2013. (He was 17 at the time; Argento was 37.) The story further claimed that Argento paid Bennett the settlement within the last few months, shortly after she became one of the most vocal proponents of the #MeToo movement.
In her statement, Argento not only denies the Timess reporting, but also claims that her late boyfriend, TV host and chef Anthony Bourdain, paid the settlement on her behalf, solely as a means to quiet the situation and help Bennett out financially—not because the assault allegations were true.
“I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false,” Argento wrote in a lengthy statement sent to reporter Yashar Ali. “I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett.”
She contests that her friendship with Bennett ended this past fall, after Argento publicly accused Harvey Weinstein of rape and joined the growing #MeToo movement. (Weinstein has denied Argentos accusations.) “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,” the statement reads. Per the Times report, Bennetts income in the last five years before his alleged encounter with Argento was $2.7 million. It has since dropped down to about $60,000 per year. In a lawsuit filed in 2014, per the Times, Bennett claimed his parents cheated him out of $1.5 million in earnings over the years. In his lawyers notice of intent to sue Argento, he asked for $3.5 million in damages. At the time, Argento was represented by Richard Hofstetter, who was also Bourdains longtime lawyer.
In her statement, Argento claims that Bennett sought her out because of her relationship with Bourdain, who had a “reputation as a beloved public figure to protect.” She claims Bourdain was afraid of potential bad publicity that Bennetts claim could bring, so he chose to handle it privately and pay the settlement. Hofstetter has not yet responded to Vanity Fairs request for comment about Argentos claims regarding the settlement.
“This is, therefore, the umpteenth development of a sequence of events that brings me great sadness and that constitutes a long-standing persecution,” she continued. “I have therefore no other choice but to oppose such false allegations and will assume in the short term all necessary initiatives for my protection before all competent venues.”
Representatives for Bennett have not yet responded to Vanity Fairs request for comment. After the original Times story broke, Bennetts lawyer, Gordon K. Sattro, released the following statement on his clients behalf: “At this time, our client, Jimmy Bennett, does not wish to comment on the documents or the events discussed in the New York Times article yesterday evening. While we realize that the news cycle demands an immediate response, many times, people need more than a few minutes or hours to respond. We are asking that you give our client some time and space. Jimmy is going to take the next 24 hours, or longer, to prepare his response. We ask that you respect our clients privacy during this time.”
You can read Argentos full statement is below:
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