Rose McGowan Apologizes to Asia Argento for Sexual Assault Comments
It appears that Rose McGowan has some regrets about a statement she made after her friend Asia Argen..
It appears that Rose McGowan has some regrets about a statement she made after her friend Asia Argento was accused of sexual assault by Jimmy Bennett. On Thursday, the actress released an apologetic statement on Twitter, in which she said that her initial comments regarding Argento contained a few inaccuracies—and that she does not feel it is her place to comment on the matter further. “I deeply regret not correcting my mistake sooner and apologize to Asia for not doing so,” McGowan wrote.
Bennetts accusation of sexual assault against Argento first came to light last month; Argento has denied having a sexual relationship with Bennett, and said that it was her late partner, Anthony Bourdain, who paid Bennett a settlement. Argentos attorney later issued a statement accusing Bennett of being the aggressor. A week after Bennetts allegation against Argento became public, McGowan responded to the matter with a lengthy statement, saying shed been “humbled” by the ordeal.
“I had to take a step back and realize that in my own activism while I fight hard with passion—I need to evolve,” McGowan wrote, adding that she supported Bennett. “What was hard,” McGowan said in August, “was the shell shock of the realization that everything the MeToo movement stood for was about to be in jeopardy. . . . Asia you were my friend. I loved you. Youve spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement. I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment. Anyone can be better—I hope you can be, too. Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey [Weinstein] could have been.”
Earlier this month, Argento called for McGowan to retract her statement, and threatened legal action.
In her Twitter statement Thursday, McGowan noted that in her initial reaction, she thought the nude text messages Argento received from Bennett began arriving when the latter was 12 years old; in fact, she wrote, they began when he was 17—“still legally a minor in California, but notably different from a 12 year old.”
“I do not feel that it is my place to comment further on what happened at the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey hotel in May 2013, save to say that I now appreciate that it was not as I thought it was previously,” McGowan continued. “In my statement, I challenged why Asia had not acted as I think any responsible adult would if they received sexually explicit messages from a 12 year old, which of course do not apply in the same way as when the situation involves a 17 year old.”
Argentos response was notably chilly. “Although I am grateful to @rosemcgowan for her full apology following her groundless allegations about me, if she had issued it earlier, I may have kept my job on X-Factor and avoided the constant accusations of paedophilia which I have been subjected to in real-life and online,” Argento wrote in her own tweet. (In fact, Argento was fired from X Factor Italy shortly before McGowan made her initial statement on the matter in August.) “Now go on, live your life and stop hurting other people, will you Rose?” Argento continued. “Best wishes.”
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