I have
always been told, by more than a few friends and acquaintances from Italy, that
Italians don't really like Asia Argento. She's a 'national
disgrace' according to a friend. Of course, based on my
experiences, Italians tend to quite lovingly over-exaggerate with these
sort of things, but it does look like Asia is this catholic-driven country's
idea of 'trailer trash,' someone that has gone rogue if you will. Against the
values of its religious morals. Again, all this according to mi amigos
Italiano.
Argento's track record, before she emerged in the whole Weinstein controversy, was rather eventful. Daughter of legendary 'Suspiria' director Dario Argento, Asia is quite the fearless character, it just looks like she's the kind of person that would never backed down from a fight. She tells it like it is, is a very sexually open individual, but is also someone that is clearly frustrated by her native country's dismissal of her 'public behavior.'
Argento's track record, before she emerged in the whole Weinstein controversy, was rather eventful. Daughter of legendary 'Suspiria' director Dario Argento, Asia is quite the fearless character, it just looks like she's the kind of person that would never backed down from a fight. She tells it like it is, is a very sexually open individual, but is also someone that is clearly frustrated by her native country's dismissal of her 'public behavior.'
So Asia has
a lot of baggage, fine, and I really do believe her claims
that Harvey Weinstein forced himself onto her. I also love the
way she has lead the way with the #MeToo movement. However, with all that being
said, yesterday’s revelation that she allegedly sexually assaulted a
young actor came to be a very serious blow on the actress' credibility
as a leader of the women's movement. Even worse, instead of apologizing, Asia
released a statement today denying the allegations ever happened.
“I
strongly deny and oppose the contents of the New York Times article…” Argento
said in a statement sent to the NYT.
However,
this is where it gets interesting. Argento's next comments hint a her possibly
throwing her own deceased husband Anthony Bourdain under the
bus with a statement that merits more than a few thoughts and ponder-some
endeavors.
Argento
indicates that the young boy she had supposedly assaulted, Jimmy
Bennett, had blackmailed her for an act that supposedly never took place,
all this because he had found out that the actress was dating Anthony Bourdain?
What!?
“[Anthony]
insisted that the matter be handled privately and this was also what Bennett
wanted. Anthony was afraid of the possible negative publicity that such person,
whom he considered dangerous, could have brought upon us,” the statement
reads. “We decided to deal compassionately with Bennett’s demand for help
and give it to him.”
She
continues, “Anthony personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon
the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our
life.”
Charles Barfield over at The Playlist has an
interesting take on Argento's statement:
"While
there is no ambiguity with her statement, there are still questions that
Argento failed to answer. The NYT piece claims that the outlet has copies of
pictures showing both Bennett and the actress in bed. Plus, they claim to have
confirmed from multiple sources that the documents possessed are real,
including the quotes from Argento’s lawyer confirming the incident took place.
None of these issues are addressed in the statement."
