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Argento sex accuser Bennett opens up on Italian TV

US actor Jimmy Bennett, who accuses Asia Argento of sexually assaulting him as a teenager, said in his first television interview since the allegation emerged that they had a "complete" sexual relationship.

Published: 24 September 2018 13:18 CEST
Argento sex accuser Bennett opens up on Italian TV
Asia Argento speaking at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

Argento, who shot into the headlines for accusing disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, reportedly paid Bennett money after he said she had sex with him in a California hotel room in 2013.

The actor and rock musician was 17 years old at the time of the alleged assault. The legal age of consent in California is 18. Argento was 37. She has denied having sex with him or paying hush money.

“It all happened very fast,” Bennett told Italy's La 7 channel, accompanied by his US lawyer, Gordon Sattro.

“She started kissing me longer and longer… and it started to feel to me that it was less of just a friendly thing and more of something she was trying to push or explore,” Bennett told sceptical interviewer Massimo Gilletti.

“It turned into her placing her hands on me and following that was when she pushed me onto the bed and took my pants off,” he said.

READ ALSO: Italian actress Asia Argento denies sexual relationship with underage teen

Asked whether it was a “complete” relationship, Bennett confirmed that it was, implying they had sex, but declined to go into detail.

Bennett was seven years old when he played Argento's son in the 2004 film “The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things”.

“The power that she had over the situation made me feel powerless in a way,” Bennett said.

The New York Times reported in August that Argento paid Bennett $380,000 after his lawyers launched legal action, a month after Argento's accusations against Weinstein were made public.

Argento says she only gave Bennett money to help him out during a difficult period.

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METOO

‘When I said no’: Danish women in campaign against sexual assault victim blaming

Women in Denmark have joined a social media movement responding to victim blaming of women who have suffered sexual violence and harassment.

Published: 20 July 2021 14:37 CEST
'When I said no': Danish women in campaign against sexual assault victim blaming
Illustration file photo: Issei Kato/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpi

Using the hashtag #dajegsagdefra, which translates loosely to ‘when I said no’, women have described assault, attacks, violence, harassment and humiliation against them which occurred or continued after they rejected the advances of an attacker.

The hashtag began to trend in response to social media comments suggesting women can avoid being assaulted simply by firmly ‘saying no’ (ved at sige fra). Such comments have been criticised as an attempt to place responsibility for sexual assault, violence and harassment with victims.

The discussion is linked to Denmark’s #MeToo debate, which remains a prominent issue in the country after thousands of women shared stories of sexual harassment in late 2020.

READ ALSO:

 In the hashtagged tweets, the women describe situations of sexual assault or harassment which escalated after they told the aggressor to stop.

Kirstine Holst, the chairperson of support organisation Voldtægtsofres Vilkår, is among those to have shared personal accounts.

“When I said no I was held by the throat and raped”, Holst’s tweet reads.

Another voice in the Danish debate, Khaterah Parwani, is also among those to have tweeted using the hashtag.

Parwani is director of Løft, an organisation which works against negative social control.

She described several incidents in which she was subjected to violence and abuse after saying no to an aggressor, including being “unrecognisable at hospital” after an attack and “beaten up in a car and lying bleeding on a wet pavement”.

A number of Twitter uses in Denmark also highlighted on Tuesday a report issued by police in North Zealand of an incident in which a 22-year-old man punched and kicked a 15-year-old girl after she asked him to stop whistling at her and friends, and told him her age.

That incident occurred in the town of Espergærde.

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