The #MeToo movement was shaken on Sunday by the revelations of the "New York Times" at Asia Argento. The New York daily revealed that the Italian actress, one of the women who accused Harvey Weinstein last year of rape, recently agreed to pay $ 380,000 to buy the silence of a young actor. Jimmy Bennett accused him of sexual abuse in Los Angeles in 2013 when he was only 17 years old. Asia Argento was 37.
Jimmy Bennett originally claimed $ 3.5 million in damages. He contacted the actress's representatives last November, barely a month after the outbreak of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. At that time, the testimony of Asia Argento, who accused Harvey Weinstein of raping her in 1997 when she was 21, has caused dozens of other actresses to sue the powerful Hollywood producer.
The facts against Asia Argento date from 9 May 2013. That day the Italian actress Jimmy Bennett found a large hotel in Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles, a meeting she had documented with a photo on her Instagram account. Asia Argento had published a self-portrait with the caption: "I look forward to #marinadelrey, my son @jimmybennett who has long been lost, (…)". Jimmy Bennett replied: "I'm almost here!"
The documents cited by the "New York Times" indicate that the actress would have given alcohol to the young actor with whom she had filmed in 2004 in "The Book of Jeremiah." Asia Argento then kissed the young actor, pushed him to bed and had sex with him. Under the terms of the agreement with Jimmy Bennett, Asia Argento had recovered the rights of a photo she had taken to bed with the young actor.
The Italian actress has been silently walled since the publication of the article. Rose McGowan, another actress who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, expressed her grief on Twitter: "Ten months ago, I knew Asia Argento, our common story is the shared pain of Harvey Weinstein, which is broken, my heart is broken." Tarana Burke , one of the co-founders of the # MeToo movement in the United States, called for mobilization to defend the movement: "People will use recent revelations in the press to try to discredit the movement," she wrote on Twitter. "Do not let that happen."
These revelations, however, are a new blow for #MeToo. An internal New York University (NYU) study, released this month by The New York Times, concluded that Avital Ronell, a prominent NYU feminist, had been guilty of sexual harassment on the streets. one of his former students, Nimrod Reitman. The professor has been suspended this year, but has received support from various academics who have sent a letter to the NYU.
The movement #MeToo shows signs of shortness of breath. Despite the mobilization of women against him, Keith Ellison, number 2 of the Democratic Party accused of domestic violence, won a headquarters last week for Minnesota's Attorney General. Leslie Moonves, the boss of CBS, retained his position despite indictments against sexual harassment, published three weeks ago by the New Yorker. A situation that was unthinkable a few months ago. Charlie Rose, a CBS star reporter, was fired in November 2017, only twenty-four hours after eight women were accused of sexual harassment in the Washington Post. (24 hours)
Created: 20.08.2018, 22:42
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