Asia Argento withdraws from Dutch music festival role amid sexual assault allegations

The Associated Press

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.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Italian actress and filmmaker Asia Argento has backed out of curating a Dutch music festival after a young actor accused her of sexual assault.

Organizers of the "Le Guess Who?" festival said in a statement Wednesday that "due to the volatile nature of the accusations surrounding Ms. Argento, she has chosen to withdraw from her curatorship of this year's edition, while these issues remain open."

Argento, a prominent #MeToo activist, was one of the curators of the festival which takes place in the city of Utrecht in November.

Actor Jimmy Bennett claimed Argento, then 37, sexually assaulted him when he was 17 in 2013. Argento denied ever having a sexual relationship with Bennett, whom she agreed to pay $380,000 in a settlement.

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