Rose McGowan takes Jimmy Bennett's side against #MeToo pal Asia Argento

Maria Puente | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Weinstein accuser Asia Argento allegedly paid off sex assault accuser Prominent Harvey Weinstein accuser and MeToo advocate, Asia Argento, allegedly paid off a young actor who accused her of sexually assaulting him.

Rose McGowan, the #MeToo ally to Asia Argento, is taking the side of Argento accuser Jimmy Bennett. The activist issued a statement Monday urging the Italian actress to "do the right thing" by being honest about whether she had sex with the actor when he was underage.

McGowan also declared Rain Dove, whom she's dating, was the unnamed Argento friend whose published text-message exchange shows that Argento admitted to sleeping with Bennett when he was 17. McGowan said Rain Dove planned to turn over the texts to police.

"I responded with, 'You have to. You must.' I wasted no time. It wasn’t hard to say or support. What was hard was the shell shock of the realization that everything the MeToo movement stood for was about to be in jeopardy," McGowan said in a statement, issued Monday by her spokesman, Nathaniel Baruch.

"An hour after our conversation was finished Rain Dove confirmed that they had turned over the texts and were in conversation with officers. Almost 48 hours later the texts were in the press," McGowan said.

It was not clear to which police agency, if any, they were sent. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has said it is investigating whether a sex crime was committed during an alleged encounter between Argento and Bennett in a Marina del Rey hotel room in 2013. Sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said Monday her agency has not received any text messages.

McGowan's lengthy statement is another head-spinning development in the scandal involving Argento, an early accuser of shamed movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. In an ironic twist, she now finds herself accused by ex-child actor Bennett of sexually assaulting him when he was 17 and she was 37. (The two met in 2004 when he was cast at age 7 in a movie she co-wrote, directed and starred in.)

On Tuesday, Argento strongly denied the charges, saying Bennett tried to extort her and that her late boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain, arranged to pay him $380,000. Bourdain killed himself in June.

But on Wednesday, a picture of her and Bennett in bed in 2013 was published, along with screen grabs of text messages allegedly sent between her and an unnamed friend in which she admits she had sex with Bennett.

Also on Wednesday, Bennett issued a statement insisting the sexual encounter did happen but said he was too traumatized to report it at the time, and that he decided to sue Argento for compensation in late 2017 after she accused Weinstein of rape and became a #MeToo global leader as a result.

I got to know Asia Argento ten months ago. Our commonality is the shared pain of being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. My heart is broken. I will continue my work on behalf of victims everywhere. — rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) August 20, 2018

McGowan and Argento are key voices of the #MeToo movement. McGowan's initial response to Bennett's accusations, published in The New York Times on Aug. 19, was to tweet her shock and hope that people would be "gentle" with Argento.

But her latest statement reflects a sharper, more considered response.

"It's sad to lose a friend connection, but what's even more sad is what happened to Jimmy Bennett," McGowan said. "Whether or not the extortion case is true – it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. ...There absolutely should be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault. Hard stop. NONE."

She said she hadn't released a more complete statement until now because she was "extremely humbled by this event. I had to take a step back and realize that in my own activism while I fight hard with passion – I need to evolve."

She acknowledged her anger over what she says Weinstein did to her, and as a victim felt she was justified in her fiery feelings. But even the accused have families who love them, she said.

"As allies to the victim and voyeurs of an event, we should find a better way to balance support of the victim with due process for the accused," she said. "I’ve never claimed to be perfect. This week especially has made me come to terms with the fact that we all have a lot of growing to do, including myself."

She concluded with a call for supporting more justice and more honesty, and appealed directly to Argento.

"Asia, you were my friend. I loved you. You’ve spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement. I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment. Anyone can be be better – I hope you can be, too.

"Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey could have been."

Baruch said the last thing McGowan texted him on Monday was this: "I believe in justice for all." She subsequently tweeted it.

I believe in justice — rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) August 27, 2018

Calls to lawyers for Argento, Bennett, Weinstein and Bourdain's estate were not immediately returned.

In the wake of the scandal, Argento has been criticized on social media and has suffered career consequences: She backed out of curating a Dutch music festival, and on Monday Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported that she's been fired as a judge on the rest of the season of reality competition series "X Factor Italy."

But Argento has defenders. Over the weekend, Lysette Anthony, another accuser of Weinstein, stood up for her in an interview with London's Sunday Times.

"I cannot stand by while Asia Argento is hurled under a bus," Anthony said. "She has been extraordinarily courageous standing up to Weinstein. And now she's being punished. ... She's being vilified and abused.

"When Asia told her story, it was absolutely akin to mine, and I cannot in good conscience let her carry the burden."

More: Jimmy Bennett speaks about Asia Argento: We DID have sex when I was underage

Related: Mira Sorvino is 'heartsick' over Asia Argento charges, 'hoping against hope' they're false