"You were my friend. I loved you," McGowan said while addressing former friend Argento in a lengthy statement released on Monday.
Rose McGowan has cut ties with Asia Argento following allegations of sexual assault, which reportedly led to Argento being dropped as a judge on X Factor Italy.
According to an article published by the The New York Times, Argento paid off her former co-star, actor Jimmy Bennett, after he accused her of sexually assaulting him in a hotel room in 2013 when he was 17 and she was 37.
Although Argento -- the girlfriend of late chef Anthony Bourdain -- has admitted the payout occured, she has denied ever having a sexual relationship with Bennett.
McGowan released a statement on Monday in which she indicated that although she had forged a close bond with Argento due to their alleged shared experiences of assault by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, she has now ended the friendship.
“I first met Asia on a red carpet, but it’s only been the past year through our shared experience of the HW case that we have bonded,” McGowan explained. “Asia was a person who understood my trauma in a way that many others didn’t. We were able to talk through them together and champion each other’s voices. We even got matching dot tattoos! Something I had posted on my IG just about a month ago.”
“It’s no secret to anyone that I’m a blunt, candid, brazen individual vocally -- and I think that’s what I really related to Asia the most with,” she continued. “They were edgy, confrontational, and strong willed with very little care about how much other’s liked or disliked them. Rare things to find in women in this industry or the world.”
McGowan then shared that “in an instant” everything changed, after Rain Dove, a 28-year-old model whom McGowan stated she has been dating, shared that he had been texting Argento and she had revealed she had slept with Bennett.
“Rain also shared that Asia had stated that she’d been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12,” McGowan said in the statement. “Asia mentioned in these texts that she didn’t take any action on those images. No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmy’s social media. Not even a simple message, ‘Don’t send me these images. They are inappropriate.’”
McGowan continued to explain how Dove had agreed to go the police with the text messages, which eventually ended up in the press.
The 44-year-old actress also shared the back story of how she introduced Dove to Argento in August, after Bourdain’s passing.
“I was with Asia to comfort and support her,” McGowan wrote. “Rain Dove came to support us both. It was an emotionally chaotic time and Rain Dove suggested we go to Berlin for a couple days to take the mourning out of Asia’s home and into a neutral space. So we did. While in Berlin Asia had mentioned that she was being extorted for a large sum of money every month by someone who was blackmailing them with a provocative image. No one in the room knew who the extortionist was. Now we know it to be a reference to this case."
“Rain Dove continued on communicating with Asia occasionally after meeting her -- and their conversations have been their own,” McGowan added. “I know Rain is a person to whom many high-profile entities consult when they are experiencing social pressures because Rain is good at guiding them through the research confrontation, rehabilitation, and solution process. While they are a person who is good at keeping a secret for those dedicated to making things right -- they are also justice driven. So, it was not a surprise to me that I received that call and the messages from them. I’ve referred to Asia in the past as ‘My Ride or Die’ and said very clearly that their friendship comes first. I know that coming to me with those messages must have been hard for Rain because of that so I commend them for their bravery.”
McGowan then thanked those who have checked on her to see if she is OK, stated she was doing well and said she was “sad to lose a friend connection.”
“But what’s even more sad is what happened to Jimmy Bennett,” she added. “Whether or not the extortion case is true -- it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. It is the type of thing I fight against alongside so many.”
“Asia you were my friend. I loved you. You’ve spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement,” McGowan concluded. “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 could have been.”
See more on McGowan and the #MeToo movement below.
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