This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

She was one of the loudest voices of the #MeToo movement, speaking up on behalf of survivors of sexual assault and promising that “more pigs will be revealed”. But since a report in the New York Times on Sunday revealed that she is accused of being an abuser herself, Asia Argento has fallen silent.

Now supporters of #MeToo are faced with a complicated question: what does the movement do with victims who may also be victimizers?

Asia Argento accused of paying off actor who says she sexually assaulted him aged 17 Read more

“Cynical people are going to use individual examples of women’s bad behavior to argue that sexual harassment and assault are not part of structural misogyny, even that such abuses have no gender at all,” tweeted the feminist writer Moira Donegan in response to the Argento news. “Ignore these people; they have little interest in justice.”

To some feminists, the question was not as unwelcome as one might expect. The #MeToo founder, Tarana Burke, asserted on Twitter that it is only through the kind of hard conversations that will be prompted by stories such as Argento’s that the movement can actually succeed.

“This movement is making space for possibility,” Burke wrote. “But, it can only happen after we crack open the whole can of worms and get really comfortable with the uncomfortable reality that there is no one way to be a perpetrator … and there is no model survivor.”

“We are imperfectly human and we all have to be accountable for our individual behavior,” Burke continued. “People will use these recent news stories to try and discredit this movement – don’t let that happen.”

That effort to discredit the movement is already in full swing.

One figure who leapt at the chance to undermine a movement built around believing women was Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer whom Argento and scores of other women accused of sexually harassment and assault.

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to rape and criminal sex act charges in New York court.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘None of us know the truth of the situation,’ said Rose McGowan, another #MeToo figure. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

In a statement to Fox News, his attorney Benjamin Brafman lambasted Argento for “a stunning level of hypocrisy” and argued that the case “should demonstrate to everyone how poorly the allegations against Mr Weinstein were actually vetted”.

The 42-year-old Italian actor and director is already facing professional ramifications. The producers of an Italian singing competition for which she acts as a judge told the Hollywood Reporter that Argento will be fired if the Times’ report is “confirmed”.

Others have made public statements asking for understanding or compassion for Argento.

“I got to know Asia Argento 10 months ago,” tweeted Rose McGowan, another high-profile #MeToo activist who accused Weinstein of assault. “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.

“None of us know the truth of the situation and I’m sure more will be revealed,” McGowan continued. “Be gentle.”

Rosanna Arquette, another actor who accused Weinstein of sexual assault, tweeted: “Trauma begets trauma … until we heal ourselves we are all on a path to healing”.

She later added: “I stand by anyone who is a victim of sexual abuse I always have and I always will.”