One of Harvey Weinstein’s many, many accusers who has come forward was Asia Argento.
Now, Asia herself is accused of sexual battery of a minor and of having paid hush money to the now-22-year-old former child actor to cover up an alleged sexual encounter from when he was 17 … and she was 37.
In public, she has denied that this took place. But screenshots of some private text messages tell another story.
TMZ got their hands on some text messages that appear to show Asia confiding in a friend about the situation and what the public doesn’t know. You can see mock-ups of these text messages below.
Asia has apparently been telling confidants that Jimmy Bennett was the sexual aggressor, and that he continued to send her unsolicited nudes up until two weeks before sending her a shakedown letter.
As you are about to see, Asia seems to consider herself a victim.
She also says that the late, great Anthony Bourdain, whom she had been dating before his passing, encouraged her to keep this story under wraps.
Take a look:
Asia says that he came onto her
Obviously, she can’t tell her side of the story if she says that there IS no story
She says that she didn’t know that he was a minor
We get that she’s Italian and so might not be hung up on the number 18 like Americans are, but “when in Rome” absolutely goes both ways. It is the adult’s responsibility.
Does she have evidence of his years of unsolicited nudes?
We guess that she never felt like she would one day need to have them as evidence.
So, why didn’t she report the shakedown letter?
Apparently, her late boyfriend Anthony Bourdain also encouraged her to do it quietly.
She does have some reciepts, though
80 pages is a lot. The guy’s a former child actor.
She has other evidence from that time
No one wants to see their loved one dragged through the court of public opinion, especially at such a pivotal moment.
Should she have gone public, first?
If what she’s saying is true, it sounds like a no-win scenario.
Asia does want her story told
We suppose that this ship has sailed.
She already has plans in case she becomes reviled
That sounds very … warm.
She’s over it
Though the majority of countries that allow premarital sex have ages of consent of 16, we think that Asia is referring to celebrity culture.
She’s sick of the entertainment media
We have to say that complaining about “entitled westerners” right after talking about your plans to, as a millionaire, move to non-Western countries is a little odd.
She has specific places in mind
We absolutely refuse to make a “hide your kids, hide your husbands” joke.
Asia says that Bennett had never been inappropriate before
It sounds like she may have told someone — at least a therapist — about it after the incident, but that is unclear.
And what about the infamous photo of her with Jimmy?
Jimmy Bennett is said to have snapped the photo after their alleged tryst in her hotel room.
This whole situation, Asia says, is too much
We understand that it feels overwhelming. But … as her friend will point out, perhaps she might have done the math and realized that she should say “no” to the boy who had, just years earlier, played her son in a film.
Age of consent comes up and her friend mentions that 16 is the norm
That’s fine and well (Germany’s age of consent is 14, which is neither fine nor well), but she was in California, which — justly or not — makes no allowances for those under 18 to hook up with those over 18.
Asia recalls her own teenage years
It is so important to remember that while 18 isn’t the norm on a global scale, the fact that it’s the norm in the U.S. means that someone who is significantly older should keep it in mind, even if they disagree. If Asia had been 20 when he was 17, we’d be taking a very different tone.
She clarifies that she was very young at the time
Again, that may be fine and well in a society where that age gap at those ages is considered acceptable. Bennett does not come from a society like that, which is why many people feel that, if this story is true, Asia took advantage of him — even if he was the “aggressor.”
In a separate text message, Asia explains how it went down
We understand that this isn’t as simple of a story as Harvey Weinstein’s reign of terror or the vast majority of the #MeToo stories that we’ve heard. But it does sound like Asia screwed up several years ago.