Armie Hammer denies any criminal wrongdoing in his first interview since the sexual abuse and misconduct allegations against him emerged in 2021.
The “Call Me By Your Name” star sat down with James Kirchick from Graydon Carter’s Air Mail this week. He directly addressed the accusations brought forward by multiple women and opened up about a traumatic childhood encounter with his youth pastor.
Hammer left the spotlight in early 2021 when supposed Instagram messages leaked online that revealed his alleged rape and cannibalism fetishes. In March, a woman then only identified as Effie claimed he “violently” raped her for four hours in Los Angeles in 2017.
“This alleged rape was a scene that was her idea,” Hammer told Air Mail.
“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,’ CNC,” he continued.
“Every single thing was discussed beforehand,” Hammer added. “I have never thrust this on someone unexpectedly.”
Effie, who has since been identified as Efrosina Angelova, eventually ended her relationship with her attorney and didn’t file charges. Hammer exited “Shotgun Wedding” and was replaced by Josh Duhamel as Jennifer Lopez’s onscreen love interest.
Kirchick reportedly obtained direct messages from 2017 between Angelova and Hammer’s ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers and said Angelova told Chambers she was “pretty much chasing” Hammer, who “kept saying he was married and couldn’t do this” before relenting.
Chambers allegedly requested three psychologists evaluate Hammer when she learned of the affair. In the report obtained by Air Mail, she claimed that Hammer was “grooming girls as young as 15” and that “the FBI is involved.”
“Some of Mr. Hammer’s attitudes and behavior towards sex may be compulsive, but not out of control,” the evaluators reportedly concluded, adding that “concerns about Mr. Hammer being a perpetrator of sexual violence are unfounded.”
Hammer also disclosed in the interview a traumatic experience from his childhood that he claimed impacted his views on sex as an adult.
He told the outlet his BDSM fetish was spurred by being sexually molested by a youth pastor when he was 13 years old. He said this “introduced sexuality into my life in a way that was completely out of my control” and had more permanent effects.
“I was powerless in the situation,” he told Air Mail. “I had no agency in the situation. Sexuality was introduced to me in a scary way where I had no control. My interests then went to: I want to have control in the situation, sexually.”
Kirchick reportedly corroborated Hammer’s account by asking his godmother, Candace Garvey, if he had told her about it at the time.
As for two of his other accusers, Courtney Vucekovich and Paige Lorenze, Hammer told Air Mail he should have been aware of “the power dynamics” as they “would have said yes to things that maybe they wouldn’t have said yes to” were he not famous.
In the article, the actor also claimed he tried to take his own life while quarantining in the Cayman Islands in February 2021. He said he walked into the ocean hoping he “drowned, or was hit by a boat, or eaten by a shark” before remembering his children and swimming to shore.
Hammer blamed “cancel culture” and the “woke-mob business” for the backlash against him. He said Robert Downey Jr., who was once in and out of jail for drug-related offenses, had been allowed to redeem himself — but these opportunities are now missing.
“There’s no chance for rehabilitation,” Hammer told the outlet.
“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,” Hammer continued. “I’m now a healthier, happier, more balanced person.”
Hammer, who’s since become a sober companion for a recovering addict, said he was “truly grateful” for his own sobriety and “would not go back and undo everything that’s happened to me.” He and his wife filed for divorce in 2020 after 10 years of marriage.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.