Armie Hammer’s Latest Remarks Over the Cannibalism Allegations Went Far From Planned
Back in 2021, we all gasped when we read that one of Hollywood’s leading men, Armie Hammer, was being accused not only of sexual assault but of cannibalism too. And now, years, accusations and a tell-all documentary later, Hammer is opening up about how he’s feeling about it all.
“There were things that people were saying about me that just felt so outlandish… that I was a cannibal,” Hammer said in an episode of the Painful Lessons podcast, per People. “Now I’m able to sort of look at it with a sense of distance and perspective and be like, ‘That’s hilarious.’ Like, people called me a cannibal and everyone believed them.”
In other words, instead of Hammer taking any accountability for his behavior in his reported affairs (at the time, he was still married to his ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers), Hammer laughed it off, as if the terror he caused was no big deal.
“How am I going to be a cannibal? It was bizarre, right?” he added.
Hammer then went on to reflect on his life now, away from Hollywood and the spotlight.
“I’m now at a place in my life where I’m really grateful for every single bit of it because where I was in my life before all of that stuff happened to me I didn’t feel good,” Hammer said. “I never was in a place where I was happy with myself, where I had self-esteem; I never knew how to give myself love.”
But those things only came with time. After hitting his “rock bottom,” Hammer entered a program to work on himself.
“[The scandal] killed me. It killed my ego. It killed all the people around me that I thought were my friends that weren’t,” Hammer said. “All of those people in a flash went away, but the buildings were still standing. I’m still here. I still have my health, and I’m really grateful for that.”
Prior to the podcast appearance, Hammer had only given his reaction to the scandal in an interview with Air Mail in 2023 where he talked about being sexually assaulted at just 13 years old and suffering from mental health issues ever since then, People reports.
“What that did for me was it introduced sexuality into my life in a way that it was completely out of my control. I was powerless in the situation. I had no agency in the situation,” Hammer reflected. “Sexuality was introduced to me in a scary way where I had no control. My interests then went to: I want to have control in the situation, sexually.”
As for his mental health struggles, Hammer admitted to once attempting suicide, but giving up because of his kids. “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 remembered. “Then I realized that my kids were still on shore and that I couldn’t do that to my kids.”
This is the first time Hammer has spoken out about the accusations since then.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, harassment or violence, you can get help. To speak with someone who is trained to help with these situations, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or chat online at online.rainn.org.