#MeToo Feminist ACCUSED, Allegedly Paid Victim For Silence
Prominent #MeToo activists and feminist Asia Argento has been accused according to documents received by the New York Times. The accusation is that she gave alcohol and engaged in acts with a then minor. The report says she paid off the victim with 380,000$. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51-DznmPmr4&list=PLxQaod7tWvYLe4sQJnNi_gKdQdn3buw6n
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Today we learned that Asia Argento, the Italian actress, has been accused of rape.
She's one of the most vocal proponents of the MeToo movement.
She's accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse.
She's spoken out against Roman Polanski.
So it's particularly devastating for the MeToo movement to find out that one of its most vocal proponents herself has been accused of rape.
But not only was she accused of raping a minor, She allegedly paid the minor nearly $400,000 to remain silent.
This is coming from documents received by the New York Times.
I have to wonder why so many people, maybe not all, but a decent amount of people associated with the far left, with social justice, who claim to be allies turn out to be abusers.
I mean, comedians have even made jokes about it because it happens so often.
There's a hashtag, Reset the Clock, and that's a reference to a counter of how long it takes until another feminist ally or social justice activist turns out to be an abuser.
So why do they do it?
I mean, are they just trying to remain camouflaged?
Remain hidden?
The story about Asia Argento is pretty disgusting when you learn about her relationship with the person that she's allegedly raped.
So, what exactly did Asia Argento do, and just how is the left and Me Too responding to the story that she may actually be a rapist herself?
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The story from ABC News.
Asia Argento, who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, paid off her own accuser.
Months after Italian actress Asia Argento became one of the first people to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, she's now herself accused of paying off a young male actor who accused her of sexual misconduct.
Argento paid 22-year-old actor Jimmy Bennett $380,000 to settle the accusations.
Bennett claims that in 2013, a couple months after his 17th birthday, a then 37-year-old Argento sexually assaulted him in a California hotel, according to the New York Times.
The age of consent in California is 18.
Now this could just be me, but I feel like often when there are stories about a male victim, the language is rather light.
You can see that in the ABC story, they first claim that Asia has been accused of misconduct, but then not even two sentences later say that it was alleged sexual assault.
Then it goes on to explain that the person alleging the assault was a minor.
That would make it rape.
Statutory rape.
But not only that, the story gets worse.
A notice sent to Richard Hofstetter, the lawyer for Argento's late boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain, who was representing the ex at the time, claims Bennett made more than $2.7 million in the five years before the alleged assault.
But his income has since dropped to an average of $60,000 a year as a result of trauma he suffered following the alleged sexual battery.
Argento, who lives in Rome, subsequently hired Kerry Goldberg, a prominent lawyer for victims of online attacks, to handle the case, according to the New York Times.
Bennett and Argento first met when he appeared at age 7 in Argento's 2004 film, The Heart is Deceitful, Above All Things, according to the Times.
They reportedly stayed in contact in the ensuing years and agreed to meet years later for a reunion.
Bennett claims that at the time of the alleged May 13, 2013 incident, he arrived at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, California to meet Argento in her hotel room with a family member, who left the room after Argento asked to be alone with Bennett.
He also alleges that Argento gave him alcohol prior to the assault, which allegedly included oral sex and intercourse.
The notice of intent reportedly sought $3.5 million in damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, lost wages, assault, and battery.
Argento was one of the 13 women included in the first October 2017 New Yorker report about Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment and assaults that dated back decades.
Now, it's important to remember that this is just an accusation.
This is something that was settled out of court, and there were no criminal proceedings.
So, it's not that we're going to say she is definitively a rapist, but she has been accused.
And this could be pretty damning for the MeToo movement.
Rose McGowan tweeted this morning, I got to know Asia Argento ten months ago.
Our commonality is the shared pain of being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein.
My heart is broken.
I will continue my work on behalf of victims everywhere.
Good Morning America ran a segment that shows just why this story is so particularly disturbing.
Because she met her victim when he was 7 years old.
And then 10 years later, abused the victim.
And their relationship was akin to mentor-mentee or mother and son.
With the victim even referring to her as mama in one instance.
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Argento and Bennett first met when the then seven-year-old played her son in the 2004 film The Heart is Deceitful, Among All Things.
The New York Times reports it received court documents from an anonymous encrypted email outlining a $380,000 settlement between Argento and the former child actor after he alleged Argento had sexually assaulted him in a California hotel room back in 2013.
In 2013, Argento posted this photo of herself and Bennett on her Instagram account with the caption, My son, my love, until I will live.
The New York Times says that the court documents viewed by the paper provide Bennett's account of the alleged evening where he reportedly claims Argento gave him alcohol and kissed him before engaging in sexual activity.
The Times says the email also contained a photo of the two in bed together.
In 2014, Argento posted this photo of herself and Winona Ryder hugging Bennett on his first day of the Heart is Deceitful Among All Things shoot.
This is a story where after the alleged assault of a minor, she posted to Instagram that this person was her son.
And this is even more disturbing when you see the activism from Asia Argento where she called out Roman Polanski for taking away the childhood of his victims.
In October of 2017, Argento tweeted, Polanski is a filmmaker whose work I admired greatly,
but if I ever see him, I'll spit in his face if he's lucky.
And she posted this image.
This is a horrifying story.
I already regretted signing the petition years ago, already felt it was a mistake, no excuses, it was stupid.
But this indicates a pattern of behavior that, if true, and I believe it to be true, is beyond unforgivable,
beyond criminal.
To take a childhood from a person is the worst thing there is.
He was a filmmaker whose work I admired greatly.
I still do.
But if I ever see him, I will spit in his face if he's lucky.
In this story from 2009 from IndieWire, over 100 in the film community signed Polanski petition.
AFP is reporting that a grand assembly of filmmakers, actors, and producers from around the world have signed a petition urging the release of director Roman Polanski, who was arrested Sunday in Switzerland on a warrant for a 1977 underage sex case in the United States.
The petition demanded the immediate release of Roman Polanski.
Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States, and all around the world are dismayed by this decision.
It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers is used by police to apprehend him.
And on the list we can see Asia Argento.
Now, recently, Asia Argento spoke out saying that she regretted signing the petition and that she was urged by her friends to do so.
In a story from The Guardian, in January 30th, it makes reference to a petition, a petition demanding the release of Roman Polanski, which was signed by more than 100 actors and filmmakers, including Emma Thompson.
Harvey Weinstein wrote an open letter in his support, in which he claimed, whatever you think of his so-called crime, Polanski has served his time.
Supporting Polanski became like owning a Prius, something any fashionable, well-heeled liberal should do.
The story says that they contacted Asia Argento.
It says, only one person who signed the petition agrees to speak on the record, the actor Asia Argento, who has since accused Weinstein of abusing her.
I asked why she signed the petition in the first place.
She responded, I was asked by friends from the Cannes Film Festival to sign it.
I foolishly went along.
That's no excuse.
And it's a decision I regretted almost immediately and have regretted ever since, she says.
The more I've learned about the original case and subsequent events, the more horrified I've become.
But it's all very interesting when you see that in 2017, Argento tweeted about how Roman Polanski is vile and she would spit on him, but she herself was accused of abuse in 2013.
And this also flies in the face of listen and believe, a saying that references when a victim speaks out, you should listen and believe them.
But let's talk about the importance of principles.
Because I truly believe an individual should be innocent until proven guilty.
And simply because an actor filed an accusation against her, and she paid this sum out, doesn't mean any of it actually happened.
There is a possibility that the victim in this instance was just putting pressure on her to make a quick buck, but personally I don't believe that.
And as much as a lot of people might criticize me for it, I do tend to believe the victims because, in my opinion, based on the research I've done, I think it is particularly rare that we do see false accusations.
False accusations happen, and the reason we want to maintain innocence until we can prove guilt is to protect victims, period.
If someone files a false claim against another person, they are the perpetrator.
And those being accused of the false circumstance are the victim.
And we want to make sure that innocent people do not suffer.
What stands out here is that Asia Argento is a proponent of Me Too.
But the principle stands.
If she's not proven guilty and there's not much to go on, she shouldn't be thrown under the bus.
The same as anyone who's accused.
There are a lot of people who are in the far left, who are very prominent social justice activists, who want to claim that all of these stories we hear are always true.
And if that's the case, then the only thing we can do is say, based off of your activism and your calls for justice, we must hold Asia Argento to the exact same standard that you want everyone else held.
When you see someone who is a victim of a false allegation or who is being silenced, and they themselves have been proponents on the other side, you shouldn't attack them.
You shouldn't insult them.
In fact, what you should say here to Asia Argento, for one, is it true?
Whether it's true or not, she needs to issue a statement explaining what happened.
If the accusations are not true and she denies it, then you look her in the eyes and you say, welcome to the fight.
Right?
This is why we stand up for the principles of innocent until proven guilty.
If she claims that she's innocent and simply paid off this young man because she didn't want the bad PR, well then she needs to speak up about it and we need to hear about what exactly happened.
There probably should be criminal proceedings because the accusation against her is that she gave alcohol to a minor and then raped that minor.
