One of the principal #MeToo advocates actress Asia Argento has settled an accusation of sexual assault from former child actor and musician Jimmy Bennett for the sum of $380,000 to be paid over 18 months.
This is according to the New York Times who report that they seen documents to verify the claim.
The claim states Bennett was just over 17 at the time of the alleged assault, which is reported to have taken place in a California hotel room in 2013 when Argento was 37. The legal age of consent in California is 18.
As part of the agreement, the now 22 year old Bennett gave a selfie of he and Argento in bed and its copyright to Argento, now 42. Three people familiar with the case told the New York Times that the documents were authentic.
Carrie Goldberg, lawyer for Argento described the money as ‘helping Mr. Bennett.’
“We hope nothing like this ever happens to you again,” Goldberg wrote. “You are a powerful and inspiring creator and it is a miserable condition of life that you live among s—-y individuals who’ve preyed on both your strengths and your weaknesses.”
According to the documents, Bennett’s initial notice of intent to sue was for $3.5m in damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, lost wages, assault and battery.
Argento was one of the 13 women included in the first October 2017 New Yorker report about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment and assault that dated back decades.
She’s recently faced online persecution after her boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain, took his own life.
Credit: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock
