Armie Hammer Breaks Long Silence on Cannibalism and Abuse Allegations

Actor Armie Hammer opened up about the sexual harassment and abuse allegations that derailed his career on Sunday’s new episode of the Painful Lessons podcast. In 2021, multiple women went public with accusations that Hammer had manipulated and abused them under the guise of a BDSM fetish, and the actor has not given an interview on the subject until now. He said frankly: “Whatever it was that people said, whatever it was that happened, I’m now at a place in my life where I’m grateful for every single bit of it.”

“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 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 37-year-old went on. “I never knew how to give myself love. I never knew how to give myself self-validation but I had this job where I was able to get it from so many people that I never had to learn how to give it to myself.”

Hammer seemed to scoff at the idea that he practiced literal cannibalism with any past partners, saying: “People called me a cannibal. Like I ate people! What???? You know what you have to do to be a cannibal? You have to eat people!”

However, he acknowledged that the allegations of other forms of abuse had merit, as he entered a rehabilitation program. He said: “It was an ego death, a career death. A neutron bomb went off in my life. It killed off [everything].”

Throughout it all, Hammer said that his mental health had some low points. He said: “There were a lot of times when I thought, ‘I can’t take this anymore.’ I was getting hate… so it just went right in… there was a time I was standing at the shore and I swam out really far and just laying there… a half-assed suicide attempt… But I thought I couldn’t do that to my kids.”

Hammer said that he has hope now, and even intends to rebuild his career as an entertainer. He said he wants to start by creating his “own sandbox” by writing a screenplay, as his mainstream Hollywood career is “nowhere now.” The actor was dropped by his agency and publicist back in 2021 and abruptly dropped from various productions at the time. Since then, he has worked some jobs outside of the entertainment industry.

Hammer was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department twice after these allegations surfaced, but neither case resulted in any charges or indictments. In February of 2023, the actor gave an interview with Air Mail where he denied any criminal activities but acknowledged that he had been “emotionally abusive” to his accusers. He also revealed that he had been sexually assaulted by a youth pastor when he was 13 years old.

While Hammer is not facing any legal action right now as far as we know, he will have an uphill battle if he hopes to overturn the decision in the court of public opinion. The allegations against him were covered at length in the docu-series House of Hammer, which is streaming now on Max. Hammer did not hint at when any of his future projects might take shape.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. You can also chat with a representative at thehotline.org or by texting “START” to 88788.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The previous Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available.