Asia Argento accused of sexual assault: Rose McGowan heartbroken
According to a new report, actress Asia Argento, one of the first prominent women to accuse disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, agreed to pay off her own sexual assault accuser. Fellow #MeToo activist and Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan says her 'heart is broken.'
CNN has pulled episodes of the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s show “Parts Unknown” that feature now-disgraced actress Asia Argento.
Argento, who was dating Bourdain at the time of his death, was featured in two episodes of the show. Both are no longer available on CNN Go, the company’s streaming platform. The episodes will reportedly also not be shown in syndication.
It recently came to light that Argento allowed Bourdain to pay $380,000 to actor Jimmy Bennett. The actor had sought legal action against the actress for an alleged sexual encounter that took place when he was 17 and she was 37.
“In light of the recent news reports about Asia Argento, CNN will discontinue airing past episodes of ‘Parts Unknown’ that included her, until further notice,” a spokesperson for the network told Fox News.
The episodes that feature Argento include Bourdain’s trip to Rome in Season 8 as well as Hong Kong in Season 11, the latter of which she actually directed. As Deadline notes, Bourdain previously called the Rome episode their “most beautiful show” and Hong Kong a “professional highlight.”
Representatives for CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
As previously reported, Argento, a prominent voice in the #MeToo movement that helped bring down disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, was revealed in a New York Times article to have paid off Bennett. The sexual incident allegedly occurred in a hotel room years ago where Bennett, who played Argento’s son in a film when he was 4 years old, claims Argento gave him alcohol, performed oral sex and then had sex with him.
Argento denied the allegations, but confirmed that Bourdain offered to pay off Bennett so that the accusations wouldn’t be an issue for her publicly at a time when she was getting a lot of attention for her allegations against Weinstein.
“My trauma resurfaced as she came out as a victim herself. I have not made a public statement in the past days and hours because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative,” Bennett said in a statement.
In addition to having her episodes of “Parts Unknown” pulled, Argento was axed as a judge for the back half of “X Factor Italy” this season.
Trending
Who's making headlines in television, music, movies and more from Hollywood to the Heartland.