Asia Argento acusa de abuso sexual director of “The Fast and the Furious”

Italian actress and director Asia Argento is accused of sexually assaulting Rob Cohen, the American director of the films The Fast and the Furious, in an interview published yesterday by the Corriere della Sera.

According to various European media, the actress denounced in an interview with the Italian newspaper that the attack took place in 2002.

“This is the first time I’ve talked about Cohen. He abused me by making me drink GHB, he had a bottle, ”he said, referring to a drug used by sex offenders on their victims.

“At the time I didn’t really know what it was. I woke up naked in her bed in the morning, ”she added, specifying that this happened around the time she starred in the Cohen-directed movie xXx, along with Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson.

Argento was one of the first to report sexual abuse in the movie world, contributing to the # MeToo campaign. In 2017, she alleged that producer Harvey Weinstein raped her in 1997 when she was 21 years old.

Asia Argento confirmed the content of the interview with the AFP agency. A spokesman for the US director denied the allegations. “Mr. Cohen categorically denies the utterly false charge of sexual assault on him by Asia Argento,” he explained in a statement. “When they worked together, they had a great working relationship and Cohen considered her a friend, so this 2002 claim is puzzling, especially when you consider what has been said about her over the years,” he added.

On the other hand, the actress was charged with sexual assault by American actor Jimmy Bennett in 2018, for events that took place in a California hotel when he was 17 years old. The actor confessed by this time that he was very “embarrassed and scared” to speak to Argento in public. She initially denied having any sexual relationship with him, but later withdrew, though she denied Bennett’s version of the events. The legal age of consent for sexual intimacy in California is 18. Argento was 37.

In connection with press reports claiming that he paid the young American actor $ 380,000, Argento explained that his then-partner, Chef Anthony Bourdain, had given him money to “respond with compassion to the actor’s request for financial assistance. “

The actress’s new allegations will be featured in a book to be published in Italy on January 26, Anatomy of a wild heart (Anatomy of a wild heart).