Armie Hammer is innocent. This isn’t just another opinion that can be discarded as a misogynist take on his actions, but a statement that was recently issued by the Los Angeles County District Attorney, who cleared the actor of all the sexual allegation charges on Tuesday.
As reported by Variety, a lack of evidence confirming Hammer’s alleged crimes after a lengthy investigation by LAPD was followed by a conjecture that his accuser maintained a “complex relationship” with him was enough to relieve Hammer of carrying on with the tag of a “rapist,” allowing him to walk out free, with the DA’s office releasing an official statement.
“In this case, those prosecutors conducted an extremely thorough review, but determined that at this time, there is insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Hammer with a crime. As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt… Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
While this piece of shocking information can potentially cause a furor amongst people, especially those who openly castigated him for his despicable sexual fetishes and assaults, many are revisiting Hammer’s previous alleged actions.
What are accusations made against Hammer?
Hailing from a powerful billionaire family, Hammer’s entry into the realm of entertainment occurred out of his desire to be a self-made professional, rather than relying on his family’s wealth. So, at the age of 24, he landed a role in David Fincher’s The Social Network, where he played both of the Winklevoss twins.
More recognition and fame were earned through films like J.Edgar, Mirror Mirror, and The Lone Ranger to name a few, until he began to hit the headlines in 2021 for all the wrong reasons. A woman named Effie Angelova accused Hammer of sexually and physically abusing her, as well as violently raping her for their four-year on-and-off relationship.
Angelova went on to claim how Hammer repeatedly banged her head against a wall, which deeply impacted her and her family. Sharing text messages between her and Hammer, she mentioned how completely nonchalant he was about the whole incident, but tried to calm the situation through a mere apology once he got scared that she might involve her family.
Responding to the accusation, Hammer pinned the blame on her, stating that rape and physical violence were Angelova’s idea to kink things up,
“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.”
Thereafter, a group of other women came forward to pose similar allegations of violence, sexual and emotional abuse. Some of the text messages shared by Effie and other women point at Hammer’s peculiar sexual fantasies which bordered on cannibalism. One of them was model Paige Lorenze, who came forward with her side of the story saying that Hammer carved the letter A on her skin, as well as stating a fantasy to remove her bottom ribs to cook and eat them.
Even in most of his messages to the accusers, Hammer seemingly included “drinking blood,” “eating flesh,” and “cutting toes” among his fetishes, which were shocking for people who until then were used to Hammer’s innocuous roles onscreen.
Things took a new turn when in May 2021, he was tried and placed in a facility until December. Even though the accusations and stories harmed him professionally, a lot of his celebrity cohorts came to his defense. Even so, his innocent verdict couldn’t put the genie back in the bottle. For the next 3 years, he lived in relative obscurity until his 2024 interview with Piers Morgan. There he put out everything to bear including the cannibalism charges, his sexually aggressive behavior, and the elements that came together to make this chain of events occur.
Hammer’s great-grandfather, Armand Hammer, was a notorious figure even before any modern allegations came about. Using his wife’s money to become an emboldened oil tycoon, he was also known for his sexually controlling and obsessive behavior. The Social Network actor addresses that his childhood under the Hamner regime was dysfunctional, but doesn’t blame his actions on them, despite the concerning similarities between him and his great-grandfather. Discovery+’s House of Hammer documentary goes into further detail about the controversial family.
What viewers are perhaps most interested in hearing are Hammer’s response to accusations of cannibalism and rape fantasies that crossed the line for many of his partners. In the interview, Hammer unequivocally states that he is not a cannibal and has never eaten human flesh, stating:
“Not a question I’d ever thought I’d have to answer, by the way.”
Regardless of his feelings on the matter, he did state in his words that he was “100% a cannibal.” It’s only natural that viewers may want some clarification on the matter. Hammer further explains that this claim in his text messages was a part of the intense dynamic of the relationship “between two people with very similar proclivities.” As he always argued, these messages were just part of a large-scale role-play scenario.
He also speaks to Lorenze’s claims about branding her with his first initial. Hammer admits to discussing a rough play scenario with his partner before the fact but denies there was branding involved. He paints the event as him scraping the letter A into her skin with the point of a small knife but maintains no blood was drawn. All in all, these responses are consistent with his statements in the past. Everything was consensual from his perspective and he disagrees with his former partner’s point of view on events. Now that Hammer has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, his future seems to rest in the court of public opinion.
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
