Asia Argento has threatened Rose McGowan with legal action for the alleged "horrendous lies" she told about her.

Asia Argento

Asia Argento

The 42-year-old actress was accused last month of having sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy in 2013, and fellow actress Rose - who had become friends with Asia after they both accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct - later said she was "heartbroken" by the accusations.

Now, Asia has issued a statement to Rose via Twitter, claiming she has 24 hours to retract her previous comments, before the actress takes "immediate legal action".

Her tweet read: "Dear @RoseMcGowan. It is with genuine regret that I am giving you 24 hours to retract and apologise for the horrendous lies made against me in your statement of August 27th. If you fail to address this libel I will have no option other than to take immediate legal action. (sic)"

In Rose's statement, she urged the actress to be "honest and fair" following allegations that she had reached a $380,000 settlement with Jimmy Bennett at the end of last year, after he accused her of sexual assault.

The 45-year-old actress wrote: "Asia you were my friend. I loved you. You've spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement. I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment. Anyone can be be better- I hope you can be, too. Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey could have been."

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the former 'Charmed' star claimed she was "sick to her stomach" by the allegations against Asia, and said she felt "betrayed".

She said: "It doesn't really matter, my feelings in the face of Jimmy Bennett's feelings are very insignificant. Personally, it's been a hard year with a lot of betrayals. These last four years has been betrayals from every side, but this really isn't about me.

"It is a horrible situation, I fundamentally do not understand people that are attracted to young people, of any sexual orientation ... But there will be due process. And my heart's racing, it makes me sick to my stomach, it hurts me deeply. But I believe the good part of it is that we're realising boys get hurt too."