Rome (AFP)
Asia Argento, Italian actress and figure of the #MeToo movement, accuses Rob Cohen, the American director of the film "Fast and furious", of sexual abuse, in an interview published Friday by Corriere della Sera.
The 45-year-old actress and director was one of the first to speak out against sexual abuse in the film industry, helping to launch the #MeToo campaign.
She had thus declared in 2017 to have been raped by the American producer Harvey Weinstein in 1997, when she was 21 years old.
In her interview with the Italian daily Friday, she denounces a sexual assault on the part of Rob Cohen in 2002. “This is the first time that I speak about Cohen. He abused me by making me drink GHB, he had a bottle of it, ”he said, referring to a drug used by rapists.
"At the time, I did not really know what it was. I woke up in the morning naked in her bed", she added, specifying that this attack had taken place when she was playing in the film xXx directed by Rob Cohen, alongside Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson.
Asia Argento confirmed to AFP the content of this interview.
A spokesperson for Rob Cohen for his part denied the accusations on Friday.
"Mr. Cohen categorically denies the completely false accusation of sexual assault leveled against him by Asia Argento," he said in a statement to AFP.
"When they worked together they had a great working relationship and Mr. Cohen considered her a friend, so this accusation that dates back to 2002 is baffling, especially when you consider what has been said about her in recent years." , he added.
Asia Argento was herself accused in 2018 of sexual assault by American actor Jimmy Bennett for acts in a hotel in California when he was 17 years old.
After initially denying any sexual relation with the young man, she then retracted, however denying the version of events given by Jimmy Bennett.
In response to press reports claiming that she had paid the young American actor $ 380,000, Asia Argento explained that her companion at the time, chef Anthony Bourdain, had given her money to "respond with compassion to requests for "economic aid" expressed by Jimmy Bennett.
The new accusations of the Italian actress are contained in a book to be released on January 26 in Italy, "Anatomia di un cuore selvaggio" (Anatomy of a wild heart).
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