Asia Argento, who is currently facing allegations of sexual assault by former child actor Jimmy Bennett, thinks Rose McGowan should admit wrongdoing after releasing a statement on the matter on August 27.
“It is a shame that @rosemcgowan is not prepared to accept when she is wrong,” Argento, 42, tweeted on Friday, September 7. “@raindovemodel accepted she was wrong, but her tweet has been deleted. Rose’s statement continues to make false claims.”
Argento was referring to McGowan’s partner, 28-year-old model Rain Dove, who initially claimed to have received text messages in which the Italian actress admitted to receiving nude photos Bennett when he was 12 years old. The actor, now 22, played Argento’s son in the 2004 film The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, which Argento also co-wrote and directed.
In her tweet on Friday, Argento added a screenshot of a tweet in which Dove says, “It was my mistake in interpreting the texts. You can tell even when I’m writing to Asia I thought she meant that he had been sending nudes since 12. But indeed it’s 17. Still underage nudes received. That was my mistake. I clarified that in the press and owned that.”
It is a shame that @rosemcgowan is not prepared to accept when she is wrong. @raindovemodel accepted she was wrong, but her tweet has been deleted. Rose's statement continues to make false claims. pic.twitter.com/OcHyJp6Rum
— Asia Argento (@AsiaArgento) September 7, 2018
Dove previously told The New York Times the text messages they had received from Argento had been turned over to investigators.
Bennett has accused Argento of sexually assaulting him in a hotel room in May 2013, two months after his 17th birthday, The New York Times reported on August 19. She was 37 at the time. Argento later arranged to pay him $380,000, according to the newspaper.
The musician spoke out about his accusations in a statement to Us Weekly on August 22. “Many brave women and men have spoken out about their own experiences during the #MeToo movement, and I appreciate the bravery that it took for each and every one of them to take such a stand. I did not initially speak out about my story because I chose to handle it in private with the person who wronged me,” he said at the time. “I have not made a public statement in the past days and hours because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative. I was underage when the event took place, and I tried to seek justice in a way that made sense to me at the time because I was not ready to deal with the ramifications of my story becoming public.”
Argento — who had previously accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault against her — initially denied having a sexual relationship with Bennett. “I strongly deny and oppose the contents of the New York Times article,” she said in a statement on August 21. “I am deeply shocked and hurt having read the news that is absolutely false. I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett.” She later accused Bennett of sexually assaulting her on the night in question.
In a statement released on Wednesday, September 5, Argento’s lawyer said his client is hopeful “it will ultimately be determined that Asia never initiated an inappropriate sexual contact with a minor, but rather she was attacked by Bennett and might even be suffering the fallback of a smear campaign by those already accused who have a vested interested in their accusers being denied credibility.”
A lawyer for Bennett responded to Argento’s allegations in an exclusive statement to Us on Thursday, September 6. “This situation has escalated due to Asia’s offensive and dismissive interpretation of this situation in whole,” he said. “After reviewing the letter from Asia’s third attorney, I am shocked, appalled, and disgusted by their representations, mischaracterizations, and attacks.”
As of press time, McGowan hasn’t rescinded her initial statement. “I received a phone call and series of messages from the being I’ve been dating- Rain Dove,” she stated at the time, per Variety. “They said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy Bennet. Rain also shared that Asia had stated that she’d been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12.”
The Charmed actress continued, “Asia mentioned in these texts that she didn’t take any action on those images. No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmy’s social media. Not even a simple message ‘Don’t send me these images. They are inappropriate.’ There were a few other details revealed as well that I am not at liberty to mention in this statement as investigators do their job.”
