One-time film star Armie Hammer has given his first interview since retreating from public eye after being accused of sexual abuse in 2021. Talking with Air Mail, Hammer denied essentially the most heinous allegations levied towards him, however admitted to being emotionally abusive — and stated his conduct stems from abuse he’s skilled himself.
Hammer was initially accused of getting cannibalistic fetishes and interesting in nonconsensual acts of intense BDSM. Within the new interview, nonetheless, he claimed all of his sexual encounters have been consensual and have been deliberate beforehand. “Each single factor was mentioned beforehand,” he stated. “I’ve by no means thrust this on somebody unexpectedly. By no means.”
To that finish, Hammer additionally denied essentially the most critical allegation towards him: A girl named Effie — who is claimed to be the girl behind an Instagram account which first surfaced claims of Hammer’s historical past of sexual domination — later accused the actor of violently raping her for hours. Talking with Air Mail, Hammer stated the alleged incident was a “consensual non-consent scene” of which Effie deliberate “all the particulars.” In line with Hammer, the occasion was deliberate over Fb Messenger, however he deleted the messages that might corroborate his account.
Nonetheless, Hammer admitted to being emotionally abusive to the ladies he had extramarital affairs with, conceding that there was an imbalanced energy dynamic between them. “I might have these youthful girls of their mid-20s, and I’m in my 30s. I used to be a profitable actor on the time. They may have been pleased to only be with me and would have stated sure to issues that perhaps they wouldn’t have stated sure to on their very own,” he stated. “That’s an imbalance of energy within the state of affairs.”
Hammer additionally alleged that he was sexually abused by a youth pastor when he was 13 years outdated, and proposed that the expertise led to his curiosity in BDSM. “What that did for me was it launched sexuality into my life in a manner that it was fully out of my management,” he stated. “I used to be powerless within the state of affairs. I had no company within the state of affairs. My pursuits then went to: I need to have management within the state of affairs, sexually.” The actor allegedly confided in two individuals in regards to the abuse, and certainly one of them corroborated his account to Air Mail.
Shortly after the allegations towards Hammer got here to mild, he contemplated suicide. He was staying within the Cayman Islands — the place he was later discovered promoting timeshares at an area resort — and tried to die at sea. “I simply walked out into the ocean and swam out so far as I might and hoped that both I drowned, or was hit by a ship, or eaten by a shark,” he stated. “Then I noticed that my youngsters have been nonetheless on shore, and that I couldn’t do this to my youngsters.”
As a substitute, he went to rehab and, after specializing in his personal restoration, now plans to work as a sober companion for a fellow recovering addict. “I’m going to maneuver in with him and dwell with him, get him on a wholesome routine, get him into schedule of [recovery] conferences, take him to the fitness center, prepare dinner wholesome meals for him,” Hammer stated. “It seems like my restoration has taken a flip from me being the one who wants assist staying sober, to me with the ability to assist others.”
The actor additionally confirmed experiences that Robert Downey Jr. — who was arrested a number of occasions on drug-related costs earlier than his Marvel profession spurred a second act — financed his keep in rehab, which prompted Hammer to chime in on the state of rehabilitation within the period of “cancel tradition.”
“There are examples in all places, Robert [Downey Jr.] being certainly one of them, of people that went by these issues and located redemption by a brand new path. And that, I really feel like, is what’s lacking on this cancel-culture, woke-mob enterprise,” Hammer stated. “The minute anybody does something flawed, they’re thrown away. There’s no likelihood for rehabilitation.”
Final summer time, Discovery+ premiered Home of Hammer, a documentary detailing each the allegations towards Hammer and the approach to life of his obscenely rich household.