TW: Sexual assault, emotional and physical abuse
In 2019, Armie Hammer, who you might know from On the Basis of Sex and The Social Network, posted a short video on Instagram of his son sucking his toe. The whole situation was pretty odd and alarming but was cooled down by Hammer’s wife, Elizabeth Chambers, who admitted that her husband was wrong to upload the video but assured the safety of their children.
Flashforward to 2021 and this is only a miniscule dent in the sickening world that Armie Hammer has formed around him.
Early this year, an anonymous Instagram account, houseofeffie, began posting screenshots of disturbing conversations between Hammer and various women. Despite not being officially confirmed, the screenshots revealed endless conversations of Hammer describing extremely explicit and disturbing sexual fantasies, including cannibalism, with him frequently encouraging the women to engage in his obsessions. The screenshots range from 2016 to 2019, when Hammer was still married to his ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers (they split in 2020).
Hammer responded to the screenshots by referring to them as “b******t claims,” and withdrew himself from an up-coming movie with Jennifer Lopez to spend time with his family. However, as the account caught the attention of the public, the messages being shared became increasingly more alarming with discussion of mental, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse being expressed by his victims (yes, these women are victims).
Over time, it only became more apparent that Hammer’s personal interests were extremely alarming. Soon after the leaked screenshots from houseofeffie, a private Instagram account which Hammer later confirmed was his, was leaked to the public. Videos of the actor boasting about passing a drug test (whilst still being on drugs), drinking alcohol whilst driving, and a hotel room tour featuring a woman in her underwear seemingly unaware that she is being filmed were found on the account, putting Hammer’s denial of the previously leaked screenshots into even further question.
Elizabeth Chambers has publicly discussed the issue, alongside several other of Hammer’s exes. Chambers posted on her Instagram account that she was “shocked, heartbroken, and devastated,” and that she supports “any victim of assault or abuse”.
Paige Lorenze, who dated Hammer last year, stated that he “built up my trust to ease me into darker things,” noting physical and emotional abusive behaviours from Hammer throughout their relationship. Courtney Vucekovich, who also dated Hammer last year, described his actions as “obsessive,” and described events where he threatened cannibalistic behaviour. Both of these women’s claims include an abundance of dominating and violent habits which are recurring with every woman who has spoken out against him.
As a result of this scandal, Hammer was dropped by his management and has been stepping away from future projects. It seems as though social media has been the driving force of this story, as the majority of the claims have emerged on Instagram and Twitter, rather than the press, who haven’t been able to officially confirm or deny most of the leaks.
This situation is extremely concerning, most notably for it being a consistent trend of abusive and terrifying behaviours over the last 5 years (this is only what we know of). Armie has gotten away with this abuse for too long, and it is only coming to light now thanks to social media. Although the story has become fodder for people to create interesting memes out of the scenario, the majority of posts on platforms are in support of the women and aim to protect any more of his victims who are yet to speak out.
As of Hollywood, they have been pretty silent on the situation. The whole scenario has been kept under wraps, relying on social media to be at the heart of most of the updates.
Very few stars have expressed any reaction to the story, slim to none showing solidarity with his victims.
As of the time that I’m writing this article, Hammer’s attorney denied all of the allegations against him, which are plentiful at this point, and stated that “the stories being perpetuated in the media are a misguided attempt to present a one-sided narrative with the goal of tarnishing Mr. Hammer’s reputation.” Apparently, according to sources, he is living his normal life without a care in the world.
So, what can we take from this scenario? Well, little yet, as the entire situation is still unfolding in front of our eyes. We can hope that Armie is held accountable for his actions and justice can be given to his victims, whether or not they have made themselves known yet. We also need to start believing women more! The amount of scepticism around the messages is highly disturbing, and is representative of a larger issue – people seem to trust far more privileged celebrities much more than victims begging to be heard.
Links to sexual assault helplines in Scotland/Aberdeen:
https://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/
http://www.scottishwomensaid.org.uk/
https://www.rapecrisisgrampian.co.uk/contact-us/
https://www.preventsuicideapp.com/domestic.html
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/students/support/support-2874.php#panel2887