The back and forth continues between former #MeToo allies Rose McGowan and Asia Argento over McGowan’s response to sexual assault allegations made against her by actor Jimmy Bennett, who contends he was just 17 when he and Argento had sexual relations.
At issue: McGowan’s earlier statement, in which she cites text messages between Argento and their mutual friend Rain Dove alleging that Bennett had been sending nude photos of himself to Argento since he was 12 (a claim that Dove has since walked back).
Argento fired the latest salvo in the ongoing war of words, taking to Twitter on Friday to blast the former “Charmed” star for her statement, including a copy of Dove’s own social media admission that he made a “mistake in interpreting” the texts.
“It is a shame that @rosemcgowan is not prepared to accept when she is wrong,” Argento, 42, tweeted on Friday. “@raindovemodel accepted she was wrong, but her tweet has been deleted. Rose’s statement continues to make false claims.”
Last month, Bennett broke his silence about the allegations, confirming his claims that he was underage when he slept with Argento. “I did not initially speak out about my story because I chose to handle it in private with the person who wronged me,” he said. “I have not made a public statement in the past days and hours because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative. I was underage when the event took place, and I tried to seek justice in a way that made sense to me at the time because I was not ready to deal with the ramifications of my story becoming public.”
On Tuesday, TMZ reported that Argento’s lawyer attempted to flip Bennett’s narrative on its head by claiming that it was Bennett who sexually assaulted Argento, and not the other way around, pointing to a text message in which she writes, “The horny kid jumped me … I had sex with him it felt weird.” In another text, she writes that she was “frozen” when Bennett jumped on top of her.
