• 3 minutes ago
He went from one of Hollywood's hottest big names to a Tinseltown pariah — but what's the true story behind Armie Hammer's fall from grace?

Category

People
Transcript
00:00He went from one of Hollywood's hottest big names to a tinsel-ton pariah.
00:05But what's the true story behind Armie Hammer's fall from grace?
00:09By the beginning of the 2020s, Armie Hammer was one of Hollywood's hottest actors.
00:14After his star-making turn in 2010's The Social Network, he was cast in major motion pictures
00:20including Mirror, Mirror, The Man from UNCLE, and On the Basis of Sex. He also received critical
00:25and awards-season acclaim for his role opposite Timothee Chalamet in 2017's Call Me By Your Name.
00:33I'd kiss you if I could.
00:36Hammer once said he had been inspired to become an actor after having a dream in which he co-starred
00:40alongside Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. In 2014, he told Sharewell,
00:45There's something about it that feels like a bigger message that I'm getting.
00:48I'm supposed to be an actor. I knew that I wanted to participate in the fantasy."
00:53Hammer kept busy even as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world. As late as 2020,
00:58he starred in a film adaptation of the 1938 novel Rebecca. But that's where things began to fall
01:04apart. In early 2021, Armie Hammer was accused of sexual assault by a woman identified as Effie.
01:10The woman claimed that she and Hammer had been engaged in a tumultuous four-year relationship,
01:15during which he had attacked her on multiple occasions. Effie wrote in an Instagram post,
01:20I have lived in fear of him and for a long time I tried to dismiss his actions
01:24towards me as a twisted form of love. Now that he no longer has any power over me,
01:29I have come to understand that the immense mental hold he held over me
01:33was incredibly damaging on many levels.
01:36"'Cause he became increasingly more violent. He abused me mentally, emotionally, and sexually."
01:44Effie's story hit the headlines, and more individuals soon came forward with their
01:48own accusations. In the aftermath, Hammer was dropped by his agency and publicist
01:53and fired from several projects to which he was attached. Meanwhile,
01:57Hammer and his representatives worked to clear his name. In a statement, his attorney said,
02:02With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight.
02:07After the allegations of sexual violence broke against Hammer,
02:10a much weirder rumor soon began to fly — that the actor was a cannibal. A number
02:15of supposed texts were even leaked that allegedly proved the rumors, with one reading,
02:20I want to eat you, and another reading, I am 100 percent a cannibal.
02:24There's this whole then-darker underbelly that just starts getting you sicker and sicker.
02:28The claims were compounded by suspicious social media behavior that he'd displayed in the past.
02:33In 2017, he liked tweets about rope bondage on his Public Facing X account, while in 2019,
02:39he posted a video of his then-toddler sucking on his toes with the hashtag
02:43footfetishonfleek. When the public reacted unfavorably towards the post,
02:48Hammer's wife at the time, Elizabeth Chambers Hammer, attempted to smooth things over.
02:52She commented on a repost of the video,
02:54Sharing the video on Instagram was def not the best move on A's part,
02:58but I can assure you that our children's safety and well-being is always our first priority.
03:03The sexual assault charge against Armie Hammer was dismissed in 2023.
03:07In a statement, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said,
03:11There is insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Hammer with a crime.
03:14Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual,
03:19forcible sexual encounter, we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
03:24But even though the charges were dropped,
03:26Hammer had to try to clear his name and rescue his career.
03:29Speaking to Airmail in 2023, he said,
03:32I'm here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an a**hole,
03:36that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better,
03:39and when I was done, moved on.
03:41Hammer claimed that all of his sexual encounters had been consensual,
03:45and that he himself had once been abused as a young adult,
03:47which in turn affected his sexual life. He said,
03:50I was powerless in the situation. I had no agency in the situation.
03:54My interests then went to, I want to have control in the situation, sexually.
03:59In the midst of the media backlash against him,
04:02Hammer fled to the Cayman Islands with his family. During the self-inflicted exile,
04:06the actor earned money as a timeshare salesman. A source told Variety at the time,
04:11The reality is he's totally broke and is trying to fill the days and earn money to support his family.
04:16The source also revealed that Hammer was managing an apartment complex to help support his family.
04:21At one point, he also headed to a rehab facility in Florida for an extended stay,
04:25which was reportedly paid for by Robert Downey Jr.
04:28Hammer also stayed at Downey Jr.'s house upon his return to Los Angeles,
04:32which is where he eventually reunited with his estranged wife and children.
04:36As it turned out, Hammer's family was on his mind even during his lowest moments.
04:40He told Airmail,
04:41I just walked out into the ocean and swam out as far as I could
04:45and hoped that either I drowned or was hit by a boat or eaten by a shark.
04:48Then I realized that my kids were still on shore and that I couldn't do that to my kids.
04:53In September 2022, Discovery Plus released House of Hammer,
04:57a documentary that detailed Armie Hammer's various indiscretions
05:01and delved deeper into the history of his family.
05:04Every generation in my family has been involved in dark misdeeds,
05:08and it just gets worse and worse and worse."
05:11The series tells the story of Armie's great-grandfather, Armand,
05:15and the many misdeeds of the men in the Hammer family.
05:17Casey Hammer's self-published book, Surviving My Birthright,
05:21served as source material for the show, which alleged generations of abusive marriages,
05:26threatening behavior, and excessive lifestyles. She told Time,
05:29I wanted to be able to tell my story and help people heal as
05:32opposed to watch my nephew implode and self-destruct."
05:36Armie Hammer's personal life was also falling apart behind the scenes.
05:40In 2020, several weeks before the sexual assault claims against him were made public,
05:45the actor's then-wife, Elizabeth Chambers, filed for divorce.
05:48Reportedly, she had intercepted text messages between her husband and another woman.
05:53In 2021, she posted on Instagram,
05:56For weeks, I've been trying to process everything that has transpired. Heartbreak aside,
06:00I am listening, and will continue to listen and educate myself on these delicate matters.
06:05I didn't realize how much I didn't know."
06:07I think we need to take this moment as a moment to listen."
06:11The couple remained estranged throughout Hammer's public backlash,
06:14despite living near one another in the Cayman Islands. But by 2022,
06:18the pair had reconciled platonically in an effort to better co-parent their children.
06:23A source told People magazine,
06:24The past year hasn't been easy, but she and Armie have always had love for each other.
06:29They're slowly figuring things out as a couple,
06:31but being parents to their two kids will always come first."
06:34Despite this reconciliation, Hammer and Chambers' divorce was finalized in 2023.
06:40In 2023, Hammer came back into the spotlight to try and set things straight.
06:45In his airmail interview, he revealed a number of insights about his life
06:48and detailed more about the allegations against him. He also admitted that there
06:52was an imbalance of power between him and the women involved.
06:55Hammer went on to claim that he was, in his words,
06:58massively in debt, with about $14 to $16 million lost in legal fees and dropped acting roles.
07:04He also stated that he wasn't legally cleared to work in the Cayman Islands,
07:08as he didn't have a valid work permit, and that he was living with a sober companion at the time.
07:13He said,
07:13It feels like my recovery has taken a turn from me being the one who needs help staying sober
07:18to me being able to help others."
07:20By 2024, Hammer was ready to reveal even more about his alleged abuse in the wake of his public
07:26downfall. When he appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored, the namesake host wasted no time
07:31in addressing what he called the elephant in the room — that is, Hammer's supposed cannibalism.
07:36You know what you have to do to be a cannibal? You have to have actually eaten someone.
07:39Have you ever eaten any human flesh?
07:42No.
07:42The actor also admitted that he had a sexually charged relationship with Effie the accuser,
07:47and that he did in fact use a knife on ex-girlfriend Paige Lorenz during an intimate
07:51moment. Hammer also shared that for a time, he was only allowed to see his children with
07:55a supervised therapist visit.
07:57It was a dark time for everybody.
08:00If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the
08:05Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE,
08:134673.

Recommended