Accused Accuser

From USA Today:

"#MeToo leader Asia Argento paid off actor who accused her of sexual assault, NYT says"

#MeToo advocate Asia Argento, one of the first women to accuse disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, paid off an ex-child actor who accused her of sexual misconduct, according to legal documents obtained by The New York Times Jimmy Bennett, who was 17 at the time of the encounter, alleges that he was assaulted by Argento in a California hotel in 2013, when the actress was 37. (The age of consent in California is 18.) Bennett’s lawyer notified Argento last November of his intention to sue for $3.5 million for emotional distress, lost wages, assault and battery – a month after she went public with her allegations against Weinstein. The Italian actress agreed to pay him $380,000. Three people familiar with the case told the Times the documents were authentic. USA TODAY has reached out to Argento’s representative for comment. Bennett declined comment to the Times Argento, 42, and Bennett, now 22, co-starred as a teenage mother and her son in the 2004 film “The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things,” which Argento directed and co-wrote.   The actors stayed in touch on social media, and Bennett says she assaulted him when they met up on May 9, 2013, at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, California. The documents say she gave him alcohol and pulled his pants off for oral sex and intercourse. According to the Times, Argento noted the occasion on Instagram: “Happiest day of my life reunion with @jimmymbennett xox. In October, the actress told The New Yorker that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her at a hotel in France, where she was attending Cannes Film Festival in 1997. Weinstein has said their relationship was consensual This May, Argento gave a fiery speech about sexual assault at the closing ceremony of Cannes. "This festival was his hunting ground," she told the black-tie crowd. "I want to make a prediction: Harvey Weinstein will never be welcomed here ever again. He will live in disgrace, shunned by a film community that once embraced him and covered up for his crimes “Even tonight,” she continued, “sitting among you, there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conduct against women, for behavior that does not belong in this industry, does not belong in any industry. You know who you are. But most importantly, we know who you are. And we’re not going to allow you to get away with it any longer.

^ I do not know for sure if this story is true or not, but I have seen the same basic story reported on numerous national and international media outlets in French and in English. If this story is correct then Asia Argento should be charged with statutory rape since Jimmy Bennet was 17 years at the time. She should be forced to registered for the Sex Offenders Registry and be placed at the same level as Harvey Weinstein (maybe a little higher since what she did was to a minor.) The Metoo Movement may have started out with good intentions (of stopping sexual assault and bringing those that committed the crimes to justice) but it seems that more and more people are abusing the movement to get back at someone they don't like and making things up just to ruin the other person's career/life (with no actual sexual assault occurring.) Just the mention or hint can ruin someone's life  even before any investigation (criminal, civil or independent) can determine the facts.  That isn't the case here, but has been in numerous other recently identified cases. There really needs to be more organization in how sexual assault cases are handled and how the Metoo Movement works. There needs to be investigations done and the findings announced before the "mob-of-public-opinion" goes after someone. Whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty?" MeToo has allowed it to become a society where you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent and by then your personal and professional life have already been destroyed. Also as this case shows men can be sexually assaulted just as women can be and the same standards need to be used when dealing with both (but different standards when dealing with female/male adult victims and female/male underage victims.) ^

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2018/08/19/asia-argento-paid-off-sexual-assault-accuser-nyt-report-says/1039417002/