• Two days after a report detailed an accusation of sexual assault against #MeToo activist Asia Argento, the Italian actress and filmmaker said she never had a sexual relationship with the young actor whom she agreed to pay $380,000 in a settlement. Argento, 42, became one of the leading figures of the #MeToo movement after she told The New Yorker magazine that Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein raped her at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 when she was 21. In a statement Tuesday, Argento said she was linked "in friendship only" to Jimmy Bennett, a now 22-year-old Los Angeles actor who filed a legal notice of intent to sue Argento. In a story Sunday by The New York Times, Bennett said Argento sexually assaulted him in a California hotel room in 2013, when he was 17. Argento said Tuesday that the payment was made by her late boyfriend Anthony Bourdain, the television star chef. "Bennett knew my boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain, was a man of great perceived wealth and had his own reputation as a beloved public figure to protect," Argento said. "Anthony personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life." Bourdain killed himself in France in June. A lawyer for Bennett, Gordon Sattro, didn't immediately comment Tuesday. Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Darren Harris on Monday said investigators were looking into the alleged incident involving Argento. No police report was filed at the time, Harris said.
• Jamie Oliver, the popular British chef and global food entrepreneur, has been caught in a tussle over "cultural appropriation." His international conglomerate recently released a microwavable meal called "Punchy Jerk Rice," which is being criticized by a member of Parliament and others of Jamaican origin because Oliver's jerk recipe -- with garlic, ginger and jalapenos -- doesn't contain many of the ingredients traditionally used in a Jamaican jerk marinade, which features Scotch bonnet pepper. The Parliament member, Dawn Butler of the Labor Party, threw the first stone on Twitter on Sunday night. "I'm just wondering do you know what Jamaican jerk actually is?" she asked Oliver. Butler added that "jerk" is "not just a word you put before stuff to sell products," declaring, "This appropriation from Jamaica needs to stop." On Tuesday, Oliver said in a statement that the name was meant only "to show where my inspiration came from." "I've worked with flavours and spices from all over the world my whole career, learning and drawing inspiration from different countries and cultures to give a fresh twist to the food we eat every day," the chef said.
A Section on 08/22/2018