Armie Hammer has spoken about being accused of cannibalism.
The 37-year-old actor, who first faced accusations of cannibalism in 2021, addressed the controversy in an episode of the “Painful Lessons” podcast that aired on Monday, June 17.
“People called me a cannibal, and everyone believed them,” the actor said. “They’re like, ‘Yep, that guy ate people.’ Like, what? What are you talking about? Do you know what you have to do to be a cannibal? You have to eat people. How am I going to be a cannibal? It was bizarre.”
Hammer attracted global headlines in January 2021 when a slew of unverified messages attributed to the actor surfaced on social media. The messages detailed sexual fantasies of cannibalism and rape. At the time, Hammer called the claims, “bulls—t.”
In March, 2021, the Los Angeles police department launched an investigation into sexual assault claims against Hammer, but in May 2023, the investigation ended and Hammer was not charged.
“Sexual assault cases are often difficult to prove, which is why we assign our most experienced prosecutors to review them. 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,” Tiffiny Blacknell, Director of Communications for DA George Gascon, told Us Weekly in a statement on May 31, 2023.
During the podcast, Hammer reflected on the controversy, saying he is now “grateful” for everything he’s been through.
“It’s almost like a neutron bomb went off in my life,” Hammer said. “It killed me, it killed my ego, it killed all the people around me that I thought were my friends that weren’t — all of those people, in a flash, went away. But the buildings were still standing. I’m still here, I still have my health, and I’m really grateful for that.”
Hammer added that he is now a different person.
“I’m actually now at a place where I’m really grateful for it because where I was in my life before all of that stuff happened to me,” Hammer said. “I didn’t feel good. I never felt satisfied, I never had enough. I never was in a place where I was happy with myself — where I had self-esteem.”
The Social Network star added that his career is “nowhere” due to the fact he isn’t a “viable commodity” within the Hollywood acting community, however he is writing a script with a friend.
Amid the accusations against him in 2021, Hammer was dropped from the film Shotgun Wedding, opposite Jennifer Lopez.
Hammer told TMZ at the time, “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.”
The actor shares two children, daughter Harper, 9, and son Ford, 7, with his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers. The pair announced their split in July, 2020.
A lawyer for Hammer told Us Weekly in December, 2021 that the actor checked into a rehabilitation facility in May, 2021 for alleged drug, alcohol and sex issues. He left the facility in December, 2021.
In August 2022, a Discovery+ docuseries, House of Hammer, delved into further claims against Hammer by two of his former partners. Courtney Vucekovich accused the actor of coercing her into being tied up with rope, while Julia Morrison said Hammer sent her sexually explicit Instagram DMs. In an interview with the Air Mail newsletter in February 2023, Hammer denied any criminal wrongdoing but conceded the “power dynamics were off” in some of his consensual relationships with women younger than him.
“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,” he 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.”
