Rose McGowanis speaking out following a report that claims thatAsia Argento, her friend and fellowHarvey Weinsteinaccuser,agreed to pay $380,000 to a former child actor accusing her of sexual assault.
“My heart is broken,” she added, before remarking that despite the report, she “will continue my work on behalf of victims everywhere.”
McGowan also asked that people remain as civil as possible as the story unfolds.
“None of us know the truth of the situation and I’m sure more will be revealed,” she continued. “Be gentle.”
Citing documents sent to the newspaper anonymously and verified with three people familiar with the case, theTimesreport says that in the months after her allegations against Weinstein last October, the 42-year-old Italian actress reached a financial settlement with Jimmy Bennett, who once played her son in 2004’sThe Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, a film she also directed and co-wrote.
J. Vespa/WireImage
The actor and musician, now 22, claimed that in 2013, then-37-year-old Argento sexually assaulted Bennett in a California hotel room two months after he turned 17, the report says. (In California, 18 is the age of consent.)
Vincenzo Lombardo/Getty
Bennett claimed in the documents that Argento kissed him before performing oral sex on him and engaging in intercourse at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, California, according to theTimes.
The outlet went on to report that Gordon K. Sattro, Bennet’s attorney, wrote in the notice of intent that Bennett’s “feelings about that day were brought to the forefront recently when Ms. Argento took the spotlight as one of the many victims of Harvey Weinstein.”
RELATED VIDEO: Harvey Weinstein Hired Intelligence Agencies to Spy on Accusers Including Rose McGowan: Report
Argento and McGowan are two of the over 60 women who have accused disgraced movie mogul Weinstein of sexual assault, harassment, and rape. In October, Argento alleged that Weinsteinforced oral sex on herin 1997.
Argento also told Farrow that she had “consensual sexual relations with [Weinstein] multiple times over the course of the next five years” after the alleged assault. She described the incidents as “one-sided and ‘onanistic,’” Farrow wrote, and worried Weinstein would “ruin her career if she didn’t comply.”
source: people.com
