Asia Argento denied claims she sexually assaulted a former co-star when he was a minor _ and says her late boyfriend Anthony Bourdain paid a $380,000 settlement to her accuser.
The Italian actress issued the denial a day after The New York Times reported she had recently reached a settlement with actor Jimmy Bennett after he accused her of sexually assaulting her when he was 17.
"I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false. I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett," Argento said in a statement published Tuesday by The Guardian.
Argento has been at the forefront of the #MeToo movement since she came forward last October to accuse Harvey Weinstein of raping her in 1997, when she was 21.
She claims in her statement that Bourdain paid out the large sum of money to Bennett _ whom Argento claims had "severe economic problems" _ out of concerns over what Bennett would do if he didn't.
"Bennett knew my boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain, was a man of great perceived wealth and had his own reputation as a beloved public figure to protect," Argento's statement reads. "Antony (sic) 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," Argento said.
"We decided to deal compassionately with Bennett's demand for help and give it to him. Anthony personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life."
Bennett had accused Argento, 42, of taking off his pants, performing oral sex and then engaging in intercourse with him in 2013, two months after he turned 17, in her hotel room, according to The Times' report Monday. Argento and Bennett starred together in 2004 film "The Heart is Deceitful."
Rose McGowan _ another Weinstein accuser _ tweeted Monday that her "heart is broken" after the allegations against Argento emerged. McGowan penned a letter in June urging people not to blame Argento in the death of Bourdain, who took his own life earlier that month.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex. His attorney, Ben Brafman, accused Argento of hypocrisy on Monday.
"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," he said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
