Asia Argento claims late-Anthony Bourdain paid off sexual assault accuser
The Italian actor released a response
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CELEBRITY Asia argento
This week the world was rocked by the news that Asia Argento, an Italian actor and a vocal advocate for the #MeToo movement, had been accused of sexually assaulting a minor and paying for his silence. Now, Argento has responded to the claims and is fervently denying any involvement.
New York Magazine writer, Yashar Ali, posted the letter he received from Argento on Twitter, writing, "I just received this statement from @AsiaArgento in response to the NYT story published late Sunday evening."
I just received this statement from @AsiaArgento in response to the NYT story published late Sunday evening. pic.twitter.com/jAOo7TAULX
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) August 21, 2018
In the letter, Argento claims that her boyfriend Anthony Bourdain, the famed documentarian that recently died of suicide, was the one to pay Jimmy Bennett $380,000. She claims that Bennett began making these sexual assault claims once Argento gained notoriety from the #MeToo movement and accusing Harvey Weinstein of rape.
"Anthony insisted the matter be handled privately and this was also what Bennett wanted,” Argento said in her statement. “Anthony was afraid of the possible negative publicity that such person, whom he considered dangerous, could have brought upon us. 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.”