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#MeToo activist Asia Argento settled sexual assault complaint with her accuser, report says

Legal documents obtained by the New York Times reveals that Argento, one of the first women to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, paid off an actor who accused her of sexual misconduct.
Credit: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP / Getty Images
Italian actress Asia Argento poses as she arrives on May 17, 2017 for the screening of the film 'Ismael's Ghosts'

#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.”

Contributing: The Associated Press and Andrea Mandell

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