# MeToo activist denies teenager abuse

- The Italian actress Asia Argento denies that she is guilty of sexual misconduct. The prominent # MeToo activist says, according to The Guardian, 'shocked and hurt' by accusations that she abused the then seventeen-year-old actor Jimmy Bennett.

Argento, one of the drivers of the # MeToo movement, became discredited by a message in The New York Times. The newspaper wrote that the actress has reached a settlement of 380,000 dollars (330,000 euros) with Bennett. He would have accused her of sexual misconduct, which would have taken place in a hotel room in 2013.

The actress now says that Bennett unexpectedly knocked on her door after accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape. She stated that the young actor at the time was struggling with 'serious financial problems' and asked for an exorbitant amount of money.

According to Argento, her partner, the now deceased cook Anthony Bourdain, decided to transfer the money to avoid 'negative publicity'. She emphasizes in a statement 'never had any sexual relationship with Bennett'.