Asia Argento denies sexual assault claim, says boyfriend Anthony Bourdain wanted to pay accuser

Italian actress and director Asia Argento, one of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, denied claims that she sexually assaulted actor and musician Jimmy Bennett when he was a minor.

In a statement to journalist Yashar Ali, Argento insisted she “never had any sexual relationship with Bennett,” and that the late Anthony Bourdain, her boyfriend at the time, wanted the matter to be “handled privately.”

The New York Times was the first to report that Argento paid a $380,000 settlement to Bennett, who claimed in legal documents that the then-37-year-old actress had sexually assaulted him in a California hotel room in 2013 when he 17. The age of consent in California is 18.

Argento said she was linked to Bennett “during several years by friendship only,” which ended when he “unexpectedly made an exorbitant request of money from me.” The two starred in 2004’s “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things,” which Argento also directed and helped write. Bennett, who was seven years old at the time, played Argento’s son in the film. In subsequent years, during interviews and in social-media posts, the two referred to each other as mother and son.

The actress implied that Bennett’s request was merely a ploy for money, saying he had “severe economic problems” and mentioning legal actions the former child star took against his family. In June 2013, Bennett filed a lawsuit against his mother and stepfather, claiming they had barred him from the family’s home, kept his possessions and cheated him out of at least $1.5 million in earnings, according to the Times. The case was settled in December 2014.

Argento said that 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.” She added that Bourdain “insisted the matter be handled privately.”

“We decided to deal compassionately with Bennett’s demand for help” and give the money to him, she said.

Bourdain’s longtime lawyer, Richard Hofstetter, also represented Argento at the time, according to the Times. She subsequently brought on Carrie Goldberg, who works with victims of online attacks.

According to Bennett’s notice of intent to sue, he and Argento met for a reunion in Argento’s room at a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina del Rey, Calif., on May 9, 2013. He was accompanied by a family member, whom Argento asked to leave. She gave Bennett alcohol and showed him notes she had written to him on hotel stationery. She then kissed him, performed oral sex on him and the two had intercourse, according to the notice.

Afterward, Argento asked Bennett to take some photos. Several were included with Bennett’s notice of intent, including three apparently taken by Bennett of the two in bed, their bare torsos exposed.They had lunch and Bennett went home, according to the notice.

The notice of intent was sent to Argento in November, not long after Argento went public with her own accusations of sexual assault against Weinstein, which were published Oct. 10 by the New Yorker magazine.

Lawyers for Bennett, a former child actor who played a young James T. Kirk in the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot, said in the notice that the assault negatively affected both his acting career and his mental health.

Argento ultimately agreed to pay Bennett $380,000 over the course of a year and a half, starting with an initial payment of $200,000 made in April, according to the Times account of a letter Argento’s lawyer wrote to her.

They also seemingly kept in touch over social media after the encounter. In June 2013, about a month after alleged assault took place, Bennett sent Argento a Twitter message, saying: “Miss you momma!!!!” according to the Times. His Twitter account is no longer active.

Argento emerged as one of the loudest voices in the #MeToo movement, joined by Bourdain, who committed suicide in June. She was one of 13 women who came forward for Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker report on the sexual-assault allegations against Weinstein. She said the movie mogul raped her in 1997, when she was 21, though she continued to have a professional relationship with him for years afterward. The situation was complicated, and she felt powerless, she said.

Her story helped expose one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women, has pleaded not guilty to six felony counts in New York, including first-degree rape. None of the charges are related to Argento.