The #MeToo campaign has proved an irresistible force since emerging from the carnage of Hollywood’s abuse and harassment scandal dominating the conversation on sexual misconduct.
But it finds itself facing its own backlash following abuse claims against Italian actress Asia Argento, one of its leaders and an early accuser of disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Argento, 42, paid actor Jimmy Bennett $380 000 in hush money after having sex with him in Los Angeles hotel in 2013, when he was only 17 — and still underage.
Argento has denied the allegations, dismissing them as part of “a long-standing persecution,” but faces the possibility of losing her job as a judge on TV talent show “X Factor Italy.”
The case has cast a pall over #MeToo, already under fire from those who say it has ruined the lives of numerous powerful men on the basis of accusations that are rarely vindicated by the judicial process.
Asia Argento became a powerful #MeToo voice after accusing Harvey Weinstein of raping her when she was 21 in his hotel room in 1997 during the Cannes film festival.
Tarana Burke, founder of the movement named by Time magazine as its 2017 “Person of the Year,” is acutely aware of the tricky terrain #MeToo now finds itself negotiating.
“People will use these recent news stories to try and discredit this movement — don’t let that happen,” she tweeted.
She said there was no such thing as a “model survivor,” adding: “We are imperfectly human and we all have to be accountable for our individual behavior.”
Actress Rosanna Arquette, another early Weinstein accuser, called for understanding for Argento, appearing to believe that the Italian could be both victim and aggressor.
She called the timing of the story “suspect” but added that it did not take away the fact that “Asia was still raped by Harvey Weinstein.”
“I know many many rape and trauma survivors who act out sexually. The wounds they carry run deep. I pray for them,” Arquette tweeted.
