TW: sexual assault detail and suicide
Armie Hammer has finally spoken out
Embattled Call Me by Your Name actor Armie Hammer has spoken on record and in detail for the first time about damning allegations made against him in 2021.
Several women came forward with claims against Hammer, now 36, after disturbing DM screenshots, alleged to be have been sent from the actor, were published online.
The initial messages included references to rape, cannibalism, and blood play, along with fantasies including all three.
Further claims were then levelled toward Hammer, including that of emotional abuse, manipulation, and rape – all of which the actor denied, without going into any specific detail.
Amidst all the controversy, Hammer was dropped by talent agency WME and his personal publicist, and later exited several acting projects, including Shotgun Wedding opposite Jennifer Lopez and Gaslit opposite Julia Roberts.
In a new interview, speaking with Air Mail, Hammer shared that he was sexually abused by a youth pastor at the age of 13, an experience which he said “set a dangerous precedent in my life.”
Speaking about his childhood trauma, Air Mail reported that Hammer told an older friend, who has since died, and his godmother, Candace Garvey, who confirmed his account to the publication.
The actor then conceded to emotional abuse toward his former partners, but denied any criminal wrongdoing.
“What that did for me was it introduced sexuality into my life in a way that it was completely out of my control,” Hammer said, referring to the abuse he experienced as a child. “I was powerless in the situation. I had no agency in the situation. Sexuality was introduced to me in a scary way where I had no control. My interests then went to: I want to have control in the situation, sexually.”
Hammer then said: “I’m here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an asshole, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on. And treated people more poorly than they should have been treated.”
He then spoke about considering suicide after the allegations made world news: “I just walked out into the ocean and swam out as far as I could and hoped that either I drowned, or was hit by a boat, or eaten by a shark,” Hammer, who was in lockdown in the Cayman Islands at the time, said.
“Then I realized that my kids were still on shore, and that I couldn’t do that to my kids.”
One of the main allegations against Hammer came from a woman named Effie, who has been linked to a social media account called House of Effie, who claimed that they had been in a lengthy relationship and the actor had sexually assaulted her.
She accused Hammer of “mentally, emotionally and sexually” abusing her during their four-year relationship, during which time Hammer was married to Elizabeth Chambers.
Speaking about his past relationships, Hammer said:
“I would have these younger women in their mid-20s, and I’m in my 30s. I was a successful actor at the time. They could have been happy to just be with me and would have said yes to things that maybe they wouldn’t have said yes to on their own. That’s an imbalance of power in the situation.”
“I had a very intense and extreme lifestyle, and I would scoop up these women, bring them into it – into this whirlwind of travel and sex and drugs and big emotions flying around – and then as soon as I was done, I’d just drop them off and move on to the next woman, leaving that woman feeling abandoned or used,” he added.
Air Mail, the publication Hammer spoke with, report that it obtained direct messages sent from Effie to Hammer’s then-wife, where she allegedly detailed the affair and wrote, “I was pretty much chasing him.”
Air Mail further states that Effie had sent a DM to an Instagram follower, in which she called her sexual relationship with Hammer “consensual,” adding that he was “such an amazing Daddy,” and that he “is not dangerous. He didn’t rape anyone.”
Hammer told the outlet that the rape “scene” was consensual and a pre-planned engagement.
“She planned all of the details out, all the way down to what Starbucks I would see her at, how I would follow her home, how her front door would be open and unlocked and I would come in, and we would engage in what is called a ‘consensual non-consent scene,’ CNC,” Hammer said. “Every single thing was discussed beforehand. I have never thrust this on someone unexpectedly. Never.”
Hammer said he entered rehab for drug and alcohol abuse at the end of May 2021: “I’m now a healthier, happier, more balanced person. I’m able to be there for my kids in a way I never was. I’m able to be there for my dad as he’s dying in a way that I would have never been able to be,” he said.
Hammer’s father, Michael Hammer, died in November 2022, three weeks after his Air Mail interview took place, but he shared with the outlet at the time that he was in recovery, working the twelve-step programme and acting as a sober companion for another recovering addict who recently left rehab.
“I’m going to move in with him and live with him, get him on a healthy routine, get him into a good schedule of [recovery] meetings, take him to the gym, cook healthy food for him,” Hammer said.
“It feels like my recovery has taken a turn from me being the one who needs help staying sober to me being able to help others. Twelve steps in action.”
“I’m truly grateful for my life and my recovery and everything. I would not go back and undo everything that’s happened to me,” Hammer said.
Armie Hammer is reportedly working as a concierge in the Cayman Islands after being blacklisted by Hollywood.
(via @Muna_Mire) pic.twitter.com/dEhfWoCVIf— Cinema Solace (@CinemaSoIace) July 6, 2022
Armie Hammer was at one point rumoured to be making money by selling timeshares in the Cayman Islands, a hoax story which was later dismissed.
Hammer and his family were the subject of a three-part Discovery+ docuseries titled House of Hammer, chronicling five generations of alleged abuses of power by the Hammer men, with a specific focus on Armie and his fall from grace in 2021.
Trailer below and it comes with a trigger warning: