NEW YORK: The #MeToo campaign has proved an irresistible force since emerging from the carnage of Hollywood’s abuse and harassment scandal. But it finds itself facing its own backlash following abuse claims against Italian actress Asia Argento, one of its leaders and an early accuser of disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. The New York Times reported this week that Argento, 42, paid actor Jimmy Bennett $380,000 in hush money after meeting him in a Los Angeles hotel in 2013, when he was only 17 and still underage. Argento denied the allegations on Tuesday, dismissing them as part of “a long-standing persecution,” but faces the possibility of losing her job as a judge on TV talent show “X Factor Italy.”