The actor who accused actress Asia Argento of sexually assaulting him when he was 17 years old says he didn’t speak out about the alleged crime earlier because he didn’t think people would empathize with a male accuser.
In a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday, Jimmy Bennett said he chose to handle the situation in private because he wasn’t prepared to deal with any public fallout, and that his trauma resurfaced after Argento came out as a sexual assault victim herself.
It’s the first public comment released by Bennett, now 22, since a Sunday report by the New York Times which claimed Argento, 42, settled with her former male co-star for $380,000.
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“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 because I was not ready to deal with the ramifications of my story becoming public,” Bennett wrote.
“At the time I believed there was still a stigma to being in the situation as a male in our society. I didn’t think that people would understand the event that took place from the eyes of a teenage boy.”
Argento is alleged to have paid out the $380,000 settlement last October, shortly after she publicly accused Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of raping her in 1997.
Weinstein denied that allegation, which made Argento one of the figureheads of the #MeToo movement.
The Italian actress has denied having any sexual relationship with Bennett, who played the part of her son in the 2004 film The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.
She said in a statement that her late boyfriend, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, “personally undertook to help Bennett economically” in response to the young actor’s “exorbitant request” of money.
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The payment was made under the condition that “we would no longer suffer any intrusions in our life,” Argento added.
Argento’s statement concluded that she is exploring “all necessary initiatives for my protection before all competent venues.”