Topline
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office will not bring any sexual assault charges against actor Armie Hammer owing to a lack of evidence, following an investigation that led to a two-year halt to his career, bringing an end—for now—to a scandal that has plagued the Hammer name.
After a nine-month long Los Angeles Police Department investigation and a two-month review of that … [+]
Key Facts
Hammer, 36, was under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department between February and December 2021, following sexual assault allegations brought against him by several women, including an alleged 2017 rape—the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office began reviewing the investigation in April.
The L.A. prosecutors’ office announced Wednesday it would not charge Hammer due to insufficient evidence, citing the “complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter.”
The actor—who denied the allegations—took to Instagram after the District Attorney’s Office declined to bring charges, saying he was “very grateful” for prosecutors’ decision.
Armie Hammer: Acting Career
As an actor, Hammer started his career with small television appearances before breaking out with his award-winning role as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network in 2010. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his role in Call Me By Your Name. He has acted in nearly 20 feature films, co-starring in both Cars 3 and The Birth of a Nation. Investigations into sexual assault allegations brought against him, though, halted his career. The probe led to Hammer being dropped from projects such as Shotgun Wedding and The Offer, making his last appearance in a film Hulu’s Death on the Nile in February 2022. Hammer told digital outlet Air Mail earlier this year he was broke and in debt, having lost between $14 million and $16 million from lost income and legal fees.
Sexual Assault And Cannibalism Accusations
At least three women had accused Hammer of violent sexual assault, rape and cannibalism in January 2021, prompting a nine-month probe into the actor by the LAPD. The first allegation came from a woman named Effie Angelova (@houseofeffie on Instagram), who alleged Hammer raped her in 2017 during a four-year affair that began in 2016.
She shared on her Instagram stories messages from Hammer’s account that hint at cannibalism, rape fantasies and BDSM. It was her report to the police that sparked the LAPD’s investigation into Hammer.
Other women, such as Courtney Vucekovich and Paige Lorenze, have shared disturbing details of their relationships with Hammer, including alleged emotional abuse and sexual coercion. Vucekovich even brought her claims with audio recordings and photographs to the 2022 documentary film, House of Hammer, which explores allegations of abuse within the Hammer family.
Vucekovich told Page 6 in an interview Hammer mentioned wanting to cut her and lick her blood or barbecue her. Some of the posts on Effie’s highlighted Instagram stories show Hammer’s account detailing his desire for seeing and eating organs.
Hammer’s Defense To Abuse Allegations
Hammer has maintained that all of his sexual relationships were consensual, and has denied any sexual abuse.
Hammer recently opened up about his alleged experience with sexual abuse as a child. Hammer claims he was abused by a youth pastor in an interview with AirMail and, although he continuously denied committing any sexual abuse, he acknowledged the role this experience had in distorting his view of sexual relationships. Also, he acknowledged the impact the age gap between him and his partners and his status as an actor had on the power dynamics of these relationships.
“I would have these younger women in their mid-20s, and I’m in my 30s. I was a successful actor at the time. They could have been happy to just be with me and would have said yes to things that maybe they wouldn’t have said yes to on their own. That’s an imbalance of power in the situation,” Hammer explained to AirMail.
Andrew Brettler, Hammer’s attorney, told Forbes the actor is not doing interviews right now.
Relation To Armand Hammer Fortune
Hammer is the great-grandson of former oil tycoon Armand Hammer. The child of Russian immigrants, one of whom was a communist, Armand Hammer built his fortune as the CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp. In 1986, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $200 million, which is over $550 million today. He died in 1990.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2023/06/06/the-sexual-assault-allegations-against-actor-armie-hammer-explained/