Asia Argento dropped by X-Factor Italy

(ANSA) - New York, August 27 - Asia Argento has been dropped by X-Factor Italy after the sexual assault charges levelled at the #MeToo figurehead by young US actor Jimmy Bennett, Variety said Monday.
    Variety's report has not yet been confirmed by Sky Italia and Fremantlemedia, which produce the show.
    Argento will not appear in live shows but will however be seen in the first seven sets of auditions recorded starting in March, the entertainment weekly said.
    Bennet's lawyer said last week that the Italian actress and director's denial that the two had allegedly non-consensual sex five years ago was false.
    The 22-year-old's lawyer, Gordon K. Sattro, said he was sexually assaulted by his hitherto mother figure when he was 17.
    Argento allegedly agreed to pay him $380,000 to settle a lawsuit over the alleged sexual assault, the NYT reported last Monday.
    The actress denied this, saying the money was aimed at ending "persecution".
    The pair met in 2004 when Bennett played Argento's son in a film about a drug-using mother.