Armie Hammer Breaks Silence on Rape Allegation

Armie Hammer breaks his silence on the allegations of sexual misconduct against him for the first time since his rape allegation (that he said was meticulously planned). He also addressed claims that he was emotionally abusive and selfish, contemplating suicide, and revealed was sexually abused when he was 13. The 36-year-old actor addressed the number of sexual misconduct allegations head-on in an in-depth interview with Air Mail Weekly. Since January 2021, when direct messages allegedly written by him first surfaced that portrayed graphic sexual fantasies and even cannibalism. Although Hammer called the allegations "bulls—" the impact was considerable. Later, he was fired from multiple projects. A woman, then 24, named Effie, later identified as Efrosina Angelova, then accused Hammer of rape and battery two months later. In his interview with Air Mail Weekly, Hammer claimed that the alleged rape was actually a "scene" they had carefully planned out via Facebook Messenger conversations beforehand. Hammer's lawyers fought Facebook's parent company, Meta, to compel them to hand over to prove his innocence, but without success. Hammer claims he deleted those messages. "If I still had these messages, I would have been able to put this to bed in .5 seconds," Hammer says. "This alleged rape was a scene that was her idea. 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."

Although Hammer and Effie hooked up multiple times, they "only had one, scheduled CNC event." He claims Effie introduced him to the concept of "consensual non-consent." According to the actor, he would never do this without someone's consent. "Every single thing was discussed beforehand," he said. "I have never thrust this on someone unexpectedly. Never." The affair between Hammer and Effie lasted until summer 2017 when Hammer claims Effie realized he would never leave his wife, Elizabeth Chambers. "I think she just realized that my marriage was always going to be in the way of us being together," he said, "and so she called me one day and said, 'I'm going to tell your wife.'" After urging her to not act on the threat, Hammer eventually revealed the affairs to Chambers, and she handled the news poorly, "which is fair." In July 2020, Hammer and Chambers separated after 10 years of marriage. Hammer did not hesitate to answer when asked if it was fair to say he was emotionally abusive.

"One million percent," he said. "I had a very intense and extreme lifestyle," Hammer added, "and I would scoop up these women, bring them into it -- into this whirlwind of travel and sex and drugs and big emotions flying around -- and then as soon as I was done, I'd just drop them off and move on to the next woman, leaving that woman feeling abandoned or used." As far as he's concerned, the actor is guilty of emotional abuse, selfishness, and being an "a—. "I'm here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an a—, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on," he said. "And treated people more poorly than they should have been treated." The extensive interview also revealed Hammer's sexual abuse as a child for the first time. In his story, he claims he was 13 when a youth pastor sexually abused him at the church where his family attended. This experience, he says, ultimately led him to become explicitly interested in BDSM. "What that did for me was it introduced sexuality into my life in a way that it was completely out of my control," he recalled. "I was powerless in the situation. I had no agency in the situation. My interests then went to: I want to have control in the situation, sexually." 

As a result of the allegations, Hammer says he contemplated suicide in February 2021 in the Cayman Islands, although no charges were ever filed against him. He says the attorney who represented Effie has since parted ways with her. "I just walked out into the ocean and swam out as far as I could and hoped that either I drowned, or was hit by a boat, or eaten by a shark," he recalled. "Then I realized that my kids were still on shore, and that I couldn't do that to my kids." After entering rehab in May 2021, Hammer claims he is in a better place now, despite being "not only broke" but "massively in debt. "I'm now grateful for everything that's happened to me, because, as it says in the 'Twelve and Twelve' [Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, the guidebook of Alcoholics Anonymous], pain is the touchstone of spiritual progress," he says. "I'm now a healthier, happier, more balanced person. I'm able to be there for my kids in a way I never was. I'm able to be there for my dad as he's dying in a way that I would have never been able to be. I'm truly grateful for my life and my recovery and everything. I would not go back and undo everything that's happened to me." Michael Hammer, Hammer's father, died on Nov. 20, three weeks after the actor's interview with Air Mail Weekly.