'The Fast and the Furious' director Rob Cohen accused of sexual assault

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Actor Asia Argento has accused American director Rob Cohen of 'The Fast and the Furious' fame of allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting her in the past. The actor, who has been vocal against sexual harassment in the entertainment industry and is an early accuser of disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein, opened up about the alleged sexual assault which happened during the filming of an action movie. According to Variety, Argento, whose allegations against Cohen appear in her upcoming autobiography 'Anatomy of a Wild Heart', set to be released in Italy later this month, addressed the allegations during recent interviews with Italian media outlets.

During one such interview, Argento claimed that she was drugged and raped by the director during the filming of the 2002 film 'XxX', which also starred Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson. "It's the first time I'm talking about Cohen," Argento told the Milan daily, as per Variety. "He abused me, making me drink GHB, he had a bottle of it," she said.

Recounting the horrific incident, she added "At the time, I really didn't know what it was. I woke up in the morning naked in his bed." "I confirm what [was] reported by Corriere. I talk about it in my autobiography," Argento told Variety. She specified that she had not previously come out with the accusations against Cohen for various reasons.

Also, speaking on the Mediaset talk show 'Verissimo' while promoting her book, Argento maintained she was initially unsure what had happened to her when she was allegedly drugged and raped. "I discovered later, speaking with a friend who opened my eyes about that substance [GHB]," she said.

Argento said she "did not want to create another storm." She added, however, that "since two women have spoken against [Cohen], including his daughter," she subsequently decided to open up about the incident. This isn't the first time that Cohen's highly questionable history with women has come to light.

Back in 2019, Cohen's own daughter, Valkyrie Weather, had allegedly accused him of sexual assault. Weather also claimed that Cohen took her to meet sex workers in overseas shooting locations when she was a teen. However, Cohen had denied the allegations levelled against him.

As per Variety, Argento, who in 2017 became a leading #MeToo figure when she spoke out against Weinstein for Ronan Farrow's 'The New Yorker' article, was subsequently accused of sexual assault herself in 2018 by U.S. actor Jimmy Bennett, in a case that was settled after her late partner Anthony Bourdain paid Bennett $380,000 following his accusations, which Argento denied.

-With ANI inputs