CNN confirmed on Saturday, September 1, that it had removed three episodes of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown featuring Asia Argento from its streaming service amid allegations of sexual harassment.
“In light of the recent news reports about Asia Argento, CNN will discontinue airing past episodes of Parts Unknown that included her, until further notice,” a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.
Argento, 42, who was dating TV chef Anthony Bourdain at the time of his death by suicide in June, appeared in two episodes of the series filmed in Rome and southern Italy and directed a third that was shot in Hong Kong. All three episodes have been removed from CNN Go, as well as an episode filmed in Buenos Aires in which Bourdain visited a therapist and spoke about his depression.
As previously reported, the Italian actress and director, who has been an outspoken member of the #MeToo movement and made allegations of sexual misconduct against producer Harvey Weinstein, was accused of paying hush money to an actor who accused her of assaulting him in 2013.
The New York Times reported in August that Argento paid Jimmy Bennett — who played her son in the 2004 film The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things — $380,000 after he accused her of sexually assaulting him when he was 17 and she was 37. (The age of consent in California, where the incident allegedly took place, is 18.)
Argento subsequently denied the allegations, declaring in an August 21 statement that she “never had any sexual relationship with Bennett” and accusing the now-22-year-old musician of extorting her and Bourdain. She claimed Bourdain wanted the matter to be handled privately and for Bennett to be paid “upon the condition we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life.”
The XXX actress was fired from X Factor Italy at the end of August in the wake of the allegations and Rose McGowan, who was a friend of Argento’s and had bonded with her over their shared experiences with Weinstein, tweeted that her “heart is broken” after learning of the scandal.
McGowan’s partner, model Rain Dove, told The New York Times earlier this week that they had turned over Argento’s text messages about her interaction with Bennett to authorities.
