Rose McGowan has released a lengthy public statement in response to last week’s allegations against Asia Argento, one of the first actresses to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.
As published in full by Variety, the statement aims to clear up any connection between McGowan and Argento, in particular the idea that she is “affiliated with this incident or being complicit“.
McGowan writes that though she and Argento met years earlier on a red carpet, it’s only over the past year that they’ve become close in the wake of their shared case against Weinstein. In McGowan’s words: “Asia was a person who understood my trauma in a way that many others didn’t. We were able to talk through them together and champion each other’s voices. We even got matching dot tattoos!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlIdtz1AHzj/?hl=en&taken-by=rosemcgowan
But, McGowan stresses, the nature of their relationship changed when McGowan’s partner, Rain Dove, showed her incriminating texts between themselves and Argento, where Argento reveals that she had in fact slept with actor Jimmy Bennett in 2013 when he was 17 years old, and she was 37.
A New York Times report from 19 August alleged Argento had paid Bennett USD $380K after he accused her of sexually assaulting him in a California hotel room in 2013 – in California the age of consent is 18. Days later, Argento “strongly denied” that she had “any sexual relationship with Bennett“, instead countering that as a friend she paid Bennett the money – approx $517K in Aus terms – as the actor was “undergoing severe economic problems“. She went on to say that the payment was facilitated by her late partner, writer and chef, Anthony Bourdain.
I just received this statement from @AsiaArgento in response to the NYT story published late Sunday evening. pic.twitter.com/jAOo7TAULX
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 21, 2018
McGowan originally spoke about her relationship to Argento, in response to the accusations, on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/1031477689947967489
In her full statement, McGowan writes that Dove told her that Argento had said she had been receiving unsolicited naked photographs of Bennett since he was 12 – but that Argento had not reported the images to authorities or his parents, had not blocked Bennett on social media, and had not asked him to stop.
McGowan says that she supported Dove’s intention to to hand the incriminating texts – which were also leaked to TMZ – over to law enforcement. She explains that the pair were introduced in the wake of Bourdain’s passing, and went on a trip to Berlin together, “to take the mourning out of Asia’s home and into a neutral space“:
While in Berlin Asia had mentioned that she was being extorted for a large sum of money every month by someone who was blackmailing them with a provocative image. No one in the room knew who the extortionist was. Now we know it to be a reference to this case.
McGowan ends her statement by acknowledging that, “It’s sad to lose a friend connection, but what’s even more sad is what happened to Jimmy Bennett.”
At this current moment it may be easy to focus on the drama of the situation. The conspiracy. But the real focus should be on supporting justice. Supporting honesty. And supporting each other. We can not let this moment break the momentum of a movement that has freed so many people. We must use it to allow us to become stronger. More compassionate. More aware. And More organised.
Asia you were my friend. I loved you. You’ve spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement. I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment. Anyone can be be better – I hope you can be, too. Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey could have been.
If you or someone you know are affected by this story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
