Actress and director Asia Argento has come forward and accused The Fast and the Furious and xXx director Rob Cohen of sexual assault.
A staunch, outspoken voice who was one of the many that accused Weinstein of harassment, Argento revealed the allegations against Cohen in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera. Argento told the media outlet that it was the first time she has talked about Cohen. She claimed that Cohen abused her and made her drink GHB, an anesthetic associated with date rape.
“At the time, I really didn’t know what it was. I woke up in the morning naked in his bed,” Argento told the Italian newspaper. She added that the alleged attack happened while she was filming the 2002 movie xXx.
In regards to the allegations, a spokesperson for Cohen released a statement to Deadline that said: “Mr. Cohen categorically denies Asia Argento’s accusation of assault against him as absolutely false. When they worked together, they had an excellent working relationship and Mr. Cohen considered her a friend, so this claim dating back to 2002 is bewildering, especially given what has been reported about her in recent years.”
The accusations are also included in Argento’s autobiography Anatomy of a Wild Heart, which is set to be released in Italy on January 26. She also talked about the allegations on the talk show Verissimo where she said she didn’t come forward with the assault accusations because she wasn’t sure what happened and then said she did not want to “create another storm.”
However, she said that when other women have come forward with allegations against Cohen, she decided to as well. In 2019, an unnamed individual accused the director of sexual assault. According to the Huffington Post report, the alleged attack happened in 2015 in Manhattan. His daughter Valkyrie Weather accused him of molestation when she was a child and as a teen, claimed he took her overseas to visits sex workers. Cohen has since denied these accusations.