Source: Frank Franklin II

A WEEK AGO, Asia Argento publicly denied allegations that she had previously had a sexual relationship with an underage teen. 

The New York Times reported that the 42-year-old Italian actress had paid actor and musician Jimmy Bennett $380,000 after the alleged incident which took place in 2013, when Bennett was 17 years old. The legal age of consent in California is 18.

I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false. I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett. 

Argento insisted that she was only ever linked to Bennett "through friendship". 

The following day, TMZ released photographs of Bennett and Argento shirtless in bed together, with screenshots of a text message conversation between Argento and an unnamed friend. In one of the text messages, Argento allegedly wrote "I had sex with him it felt weird. I didn't know he was a minor until the shakedown letter." 

Source: EMPICS Entertainment

In a new statement, Rose McGowan said her partner Rain Dove was the individual who had been texting Argento in the TMZ screenshots.

Rain Dove's spokesperson confirmed to the New York Times that everything McGowan said in the statement was "factual". In McGowan's statement, she wrote:

Asia was a person who understood my trauma in a way that many others didn't. We were able to talk through them together and champion each other's voices. We even got matching dot tattoos!... But then everything changed. In an instant. 

McGowan wanted to make it clear that she is now distancing herself from Asia Argento. 

Many people believe that because we have been close in each other's lives over the past year that perhaps I am affiliated with this incident or being complicit. I am not. 

There should absolutely be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault. Hard stop. NONE. Victims shouldn't be told how they should react or what they should say about their abusers. 

Rose said that while it's "sad to lose a friend connection", it's "even more sad what happened to Jimmy Bennett. Whether or not the extortion case is true - it wasn't fair and it wasn't right."

McGowan said that this is the exact type of thing she has been trying to fight alongside all this time, and it took her a while to reflect on the situation before releasing a full statement. 

Source: SIPA USA/PA Images

Rose added that she was in full support of Rose Dove's decision to make the text messages public.

It wasn't hard to say or support. What was hard was the shell shock of realisation that everything the #MeToo movement stood for was about to be in jeopardy.

Rose ends the statement by saying "Be the person you wish Harvey could have been." You can read the statement in full here. 

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