Armie Hammer Breaks His Silence After 2021 Sexual Assault Allegations: ‘I Was an A—hole’
Armie Hammer has broken his silence following the sexual assault allegations that surfaced against him in early 2021.
During an interview with Air Mail that was published on Saturday, February 4, the Lone Ranger actor, 36, denied doing anything nonconsensual with his former partners.
“Every single thing was discussed beforehand,” Hammer alleged, referring to BDSM practices between his “sub” partner and himself as the “dominant” person. “I have never thrust this on someone unexpectedly. Never. They’re the ones who can say ‘stop’ at any moment. They’re the ones who set the boundaries.”
The Social Network star then noted that he wanted to “own [his] mistakes, take accountability for the fact that [he] was an a—hole, that [he] was selfish, that [he] used people to make [him] feel better, and when [he] was done, moved on.”
“[I] treated people more poorly than they should have been treated,” Hammer concluded, adding that he had engaged in a “very intense and extreme” lifestyle in which he introduced different women into a “whirlwind” of “big emotions” that involved traveling, sex and drugs.
In January 2021, a woman who identified herself as “Effie” accused Hammer of “violently” raping her “for over four hours” in 2017 and alleged that he “mentally, emotionally and sexually” abused her. Shortly after her claims surfaced online, Hammer’s lawyer denied the accusations, alleging that Hammer’s sexual encounters were “completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory.”
In his recent interview with Air Mail, the Death on the Nile actor claimed that he and “Effie” engaged in a “consensual non-consent scene,” (CNC) and that she had planned “all of the details” of the encounter, which was the one that she alleged was an assault. Hammer then claimed that the woman had introduced him to this sexual behavior, but the two only had one “scheduled CNC event,” he said. Hammer pointed out that they had discussed “scene” via Facebook Messenger. However, Hammer claimed that he had deleted all of the messages and that his lawyers have so far been unsuccessful with subpoenaing them from Facebook’s company, Meta.
At the time, Hammer released a brief statement obtained by multiple outlets in which he revealed he had backed out of filming Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez.
“I'm not responding to these bulls—t claims, but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for [four] months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic," he said. "Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I'm grateful to them for that."
A docuseries titled House of Hammer was released in September 2022 featuring Hammer’s accusers and their statements against him.
Hammer recalled in his new interview that he considered taking his own life while in the Cayman Islands after the allegations surfaced.
“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,” he admitted. “Then I realized that my kids were still on shore and that I couldn’t do that to my kids.”
Hammer shares Harper Grace and Ford Armand with estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers. The pair were married from May 2010 until July 2020 when they announced their separation in an Instagram post.
The Golden Globe Award nominee estimated in his interview that he lost between $14 million to $16 million in legal fees and acting roles that he was allegedly fired from, noting that he is “massively in debt.”
Hammer claimed that he now works as a sober companion for a recovering addict, noting that he is “going to move in with him and live with him.”
“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,” he concluded. “Twelve steps in action.”
Despite the past tumultuous two years, Hammer explained why he wouldn’t change anything.
“If someone came up to me and gave me a magic lamp and said, ‘There’s a genie in here, but it only gives you one wish. If you rub this lamp, the genie will come out and take you back two years in the past, and you could undo all of this,’ I wouldn’t do it,” the On the Basis of Sex star noted. “I’m now grateful for everything that’s happened to me, because, as it says in the ‘Twelve and Twelve’ [Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, the Alcoholics Anonymous guidebook], pain is the touchstone of spiritual progress.”
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
