Actor

Asia Argento Withdraws From Dutch Music Festival Role in Wake of Assault Allegation

Actor Jimmy Bennett claimed Argento, then 37, sexually assaulted him when he was 17 in 2013

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.

In a statement released Wednesday, Bennett said he had not spoken earlier "because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative. I was underage when the event took place, and I tried to seek justice in a way that made sense to me at the time."

Argento's announcement that she would be withdrawing from the festival came the same day TMZ posted screen-grabbed text messages allegedly from the actress where she discussed the reported tryst with the actor.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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