Asia Argento Eyes Return to 'The X Factor' Insisting Italy Wants Her
Non e l'Arena
TV

The 'Do Not Disturb' actress was fired from her role as a judge on the Italian version of the singing talent show after she was accused of seducing and sleeping with a minor.

AceShowbiz - Actress Asia Argento wants her job as a talent show judge back.

The embattled 43 year old was fired from her native Italy's "X Factor" show shortly after she was accused of seducing and sleeping with a 17 year old.

Defiant Asia insists Jimmy Bennett's claims are false and she intends to fight him, claiming he was the aggressor and she was the victim of assault.

Appearing on Italian TV show "Non e l'Arena" (It's Not the Arena) on Sunday night (September 30), the "xXx" star told host Massimo Giletti she was keen to get back on the talent show.

"I would like to go back to 'X Factor', to do my job, because my children are proud of me, Italy wants me and I have not done anything that I'm accused of," Asia said, according to The Hollywood Reporter, insisting the fall out from Bennett's accusations have been particularly tough on her family.

"The thing that hurt me most was being called a paedophile," she said. "I have children and that is a stigma that I do not wish for anyone."

Bennett appeared on the same show the week before Asia and endured an uncomfortable grilling about the sexual assault he allegedly suffered during a live interview with Gilletti.

The former child star spoke at length about the reported attack for the first time, repeating claims suggesting the actress had plied him with alcohol and then seduced him during an alleged encounter at a California hotel in 2013.

During the testy interview, Gilletti directly asked the now-22-year-old if he had ejaculated, to which Bennett admitted he had, prompting the veteran presenter to declare, "It's difficult to believe a woman can rape a man. An act of sex that is complete (with ejaculation) cannot be rape."

Bennett, who was accompanied by his lawyer for the TV exclusive, was also questioned about a photo he had taken with Argento, in which they both appear to be lying topless in bed. He insisted Argento had asked him to take the selfie on his cell phone, but Gilletti called his demeanour in the picture into question as he cast further doubt on the assault claims.

"I'm sorry, but you don't seem upset, you don't seem in this picture to be traumatised," the news anchor said, according to The Daily Beast. "You don't look here like someone who was afraid."

Bennett eventually hit back at the presenter for publicly doubting his account of the story, insisting that's the kind of behaviour which led him to keep quiet about the reported assault for years.

"I was worried about coming in front of an audience and being accused of not being sincere about the violence against me," he said. "After this, that's why I chose the silent route. I was right."

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