Rose McGowan apologises to Asia Argento

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Rose McGowanImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Rose McGowan admitted getting her facts wrong about Asia Argento

Rose McGowan has apologised for a statement she made in August about fellow actress Asia Argento.

Argento threatened to sue McGowan over claims she made about Argento and her former co-star Jimmy Bennett.

Posting on Twitter, external, McGowan said her earlier statement contained "facts that were not correct" and that she regretted not apologising sooner.

Argento denied any sexual contact with Bennett after he accused her of sexually assaulting him when he was 17.

McGowan and Argento were among the first people to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of rape in October 2017.

Image source, AFP
Image caption,

Argento was seen with McGowan (right) at a march in Rome earlier this year

But the actresses have recently been at loggerheads. McGowan's original statement alleged that Bennett had sent explicit text messages to Argento at the age of 12, rather than 17.

McGowan said she had "misunderstood the messages that Asia exchanged with my partner".

On 17 September, Argento gave McGowan 24 hours to apologise for the comments and said she would instruct lawyers to "seek substantial damages for deception, fraud, coercion and libel" if she did not reply.

On Thursday, Argento said she was grateful for McGowan's apology, external "following her groundless allegations about me".

She wrote: "If she had issued it earlier, I may have kept my job on X Factor and avoided the constant accusations of paedophilia which I have been subjected to in real-life and online."

She added: "Now go on, live your life and stop hurting other people, will you Rose? Best wishes."

Argento was accused of sexual assault by Bennett in the New York Times, external in August. Bennett said Argento had paid him to keep the accusations quiet.

She has admitted making a payment but denied any sexual misconduct. She said the relationship was one of "friendship only".

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