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Reports that Argento paid off a man who accused her of sexual assault shouldn't discredit the entire #MeToo movement, activists say.
After a report from The New York Timesthat Harvey Weinstein accuser Asia Argenta paid $380,000 to silence Jimmy Bennett -- a young actor who alleged she, at 37, had sexually assaulted him when he was 17 years old (a year under California's age of consent) -- other leaders of the #MeToo movement are speaking out.
Both Tarana Burke, the activist who originated the phrase before it became a hashtag, and fellow Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan took to Twitter to react to the report.
\u201cPeople will use these recent news stories to try and discredit this movement - don\u2019t let that happen. This is what Movement is about. It\u2019s not a spectator sport. It is people generated. We get to say \u201cthis is/isn\u2019t what this movement is about!\u201d\u201d— Tarana (@Tarana) 1534763311
Burke took the news as an opportunity to highlight that men are victims of sexual misconduct.
\u201c...and begin to talk about power. Sexual violence is about power and privilege. That doesn\u2019t change if the perpetrator is your favorite actress, activist or professor of any gender. \nAnd we won\u2019t shift the culture unless we get serious about shifting these false narratives.\u201d— Tarana (@Tarana) 1534763311
She also noted that just as there is "no one way to be a perpetrator," there is "no model survivor" either.
\u201cA shift can happen. This movement is making space for possibility. But, it can only happen after we crack open the whole can of worms and get really comfortable with the uncomfortable reality that there is no one way to be a perpetrator.\u201d— Tarana (@Tarana) 1534763311
\u201c...and there is no model survivor. \nWe are imperfectly human and we all have to be accountable for our individual behavior.\u201d— Tarana (@Tarana) 1534763311
McGowan, who has had her share of controversies and has defended Argento in the past, asked for the public to "be gentle" in the face of these alarming reports.
Jimmy Bennett was a child actor who played Argento's son in the 2004 film The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things. He claims the actress assaulted him in 2013. In Instagram posts, Argento referred to Bennett as her "long lost son."
Argento has yet to comment on the report. Carrie Goldberg, her lawyer who handled the matter, has not responded to emails from the Times but wrote a telling email to her client during the exchange of money.
"Ultimately, you decided against the non-disclosure language because you felt it was inconsistent with the public messages you've conveyed about the societal perils of non-disclosure agreements," Goldberg wrote to Argento. "Bennett could theoretically tell people his claims against you ... However, under this agreement, he cannot sue you for them. Nor can he post the photo of the two of you."
She's referring to a selfie from May 9, 2013, which features the two lying in bed. The Times received it through an encrypted email.
Bennett sent his demand for money a month before Argento was included in the explosive expose in which she and 13 other women accused Harvey Weinstein of harassment and rape. She alleges Weinstein raped her at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, when she was 21.
