On Sunday night, the New York Times reported that Actress Asia Argento, one of the first women to accuse disgraced movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein, of sexual assault and girlfriend of Anthony Bourdain, agreed to pay $380,000 to an actor who accused her of sexually assaulting him when he was 17 years old. In the report, the actor claimed that the assault took place in a California hotel room in 2013 (where the age of consent is 18).
According to documents sent between lawyers for Argento and the accuser, Argento met the actor at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina del Rey, CA, gave him alcohol, kissed him and performed oral sex on him before the two had intercourse. Her accuser originally asked for $3.5 million in damages but the final agreement, which was far less, was reached in April 2018.
Argento, 42, played a prominent role in the downfall of Weinstein; in October 2017 The New Yorker published allegations by Argento that Weinstein had forcibly performed oral sex on her in 1997.
“The allegations against Weinstein by Argento and other actresses — including Ashley Judd, Gwenyth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Rose McGowan — gave rise to the global “MeToo” movement and prompted a re-examination of the behavior of prominent men in other industries, most notably media and entertainment.” 1
Weinstein has since been charged in New York with first- and third-degree rape and first-degree commission of a criminal sex act and faces up to 37 years in prison if convicted.
