This article mentions content related to sexual assault and harassment.
Actor Asia Argento has accused The Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen of sexual abuse.
Argento's accusation claims that Cohen drugged and raped her while filming xXx in 2002, an action movie directed by Cohen and starring Vin Diesel and Samual L. Jackson. Argento recently spoke about the alleged abuse in interviews with Italian media outlets, including the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera and Mediaset talk show Verissimo. She confirmed this story with Variety, stating that the story will be disclosed in full in her autobiography, titled Anatomy of a Wild Heart, which comes out in Italy Jan. 26. "It's the first time I'm talking about Cohen," Argento said. "He abused me, making me drink GHB, he had a bottle of it."
GHB, or Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, is historically known as a "club drug" or "date rape drug." Argento has always been outspoken against sexual harassment in the entertainment industry and was one of Harvey Weinstein's early accusers as well as a prominent figure in the #MeToo movement.
Speaking to Verissimo, Argento noted that she did not want "to create another storm," but "since two women have spoken against [Cohen], including his daughter," she decided to come forward.
According to Variety, Cohen was accused of sexually assaulting an unnamed victim in a 2019 Huffington Post report. That same year, his daughter Valkyrie Weather accused him of sexual abuse when she was a child. Cohen has denied the allegations made by his daughter, and a representative for the director denied the allegations made by Argento, claiming that Cohen "denies [Argento's] accusation against him as absolutely false."
Source: Variety