Armie Hammer Won't Be Charged With Sexual Assault, DA's Office Issues Statement

Armie Hammer won't face any charges stemming from sexual assault allegations against the actor in March 2021. According to Deadline, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirmed the news on Wednesday, detailing how prosecutors investigated the claims and why they ultimately didn't lead to charges.

"Sexual assault cases are often difficult to prove, which is why we assign our most experienced prosecutors to review them," DA George Gascon's director of communication, Tiffany Blacknell, said in the statement. "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. As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt."

The investigation kicked off on the heels of a virtual press conference with a woman claiming to have been assaulted by The Lone Ranger actor back in April 2017. "He abused me mentally, emotionally and sexually," the woman calling herself Effie detailed, opting to withhold her last name. "I thought that he was going to kill me."

The woman claimed she was in a relationship with Hammer from 2016 through 2020, while Hammer was married. The actor has denied the claims but suffered major career damage and lost roles. The claims also followed the revelation of Hammer's social media posts detailing "disturbing sexual fantasies," according to Deadline. Many of these were posted by the woman who accused Hammer, raising questions in hindsight about allegations of cannibalism, domination, and other "fantasy" claims.

"We know that it is hard for women to report sexual assault. Even when we cannot move forward with a prosecution, our victim service representatives will be available to those who seek our victim support services," the DA's office added in their statement. "Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt."

Hammer hasn't appeared on screen since Death on the Nile in 2022. He had been slated to star in Shotgun Wedding opposite Jennifer Lopez, The Offer on Paramount+ detailing the production of The Godfather, and was dropped by his representation at WME in February 2021. One year before the DA's statement, Hammer was spied at work in the Cayman Islands for a timeshare company and resort.