Summary
- Armie Hammer reflects on career derailment, grateful for life changes despite controversial allegations.
- Accused of cannibalism and rape, Hammer denies the charges, and faced backlash in the public eye.
- His career stalled, but the actor focuses on recovery, admitting to dark thoughts and lack of self-worth.
Armie Hammer is reflecting on allegations that completely derailed his acting career, including accusations of cannibalism, sexual misconduct, and rape, the latter of which brought forth no charges against the actor. Despite his life being upended by the claims, Hammer admits to being “grateful” for everything that happened when his world completely changed three years ago.
During a very candid interview on the Painful Lessons podcast with host Tyler Ramsey, The Call Me by Your Name actor spoke from a place of gratitude for everything that transpired in his life three years ago because it has put him in a much better place today.
“Whatever it was that people said, whatever it was that happened, I’m not 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.”
Armie Hammer’s Career Stalled Once Provocative Text Messages Were Made Public in 2021
The actor’s troubles began in 2021 when an Instagram account spread text messages, allegedly from Hammer, that he sent to numerous women that included many dark sexual fantasies, including an apparent kink for cannibalism. Everything seemed to snowball from there, with an ex-girlfriend of Hammer’s, Courtney Vucekovich, claiming that she was emotionally abused by the actor. Vucekovich claimed that it got so bad at one point that she eventually checked herself into the hospital for PTSD. Her claims seemed to coincide with some of the text messages that were leaked, particularly when she alleged that he shared a fantasy with her involving breaking one of her ribs and eating them. Speaking about the rumors of cannibalism, the actor finds it humorous that anyone would believe that he had really consumed human flesh.
“I’m able to look at it with a sense of distance and perspective and be like, ‘That’s hilarious.’ People called me a cannibal, and everyone believed them. They’re like, ‘Yep, that guy ate people.’ They’re just like, what? Like, what are you talking about?”
The chatter mostly centered around offbeat sexual fantasies until allegations became more serious when another woman came forward claiming that the actor purposefully left bruises on her and branded her. By April 2021, the actor was accused of rape and sexual misconduct, with the Los Angeles Police Department opening an investigation. Ultimately, no charges were filed, but Hammer was seemingly destroyed in the court of public opinion, resulting in the actor not securing any acting jobs since the allegations came to light.
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Hammer has denied allegations of rape and any kind of physical assault, but by the time Discovery+ released the House of Hammer docuseries, which went further to detail the allegations, he did express that some changes needed to happen and admitted to getting help and being in recovery. The actor admits that the fallout was a blow to his ego and went on to say that, “A neutron bomb went off in my life. It killed off [everything].” Following the allegations, Hammer relocated to the Cayman Islands, and he spoke candidly about the dark thoughts he had, which included possibly ending his own life.
“There were a lot of times when I thought, ‘I can’t take this anymore.’ And I hit really low, dark points. I was standing on the shore and I just looked out at the ocean and thought, ‘Yep, this is it,’ and I just swam out really fucking far.”
Hammer cited his two children with his ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers as the reason he chose not to end his life. He also began to see his lack of self-worth and need for validation, which likely played a role in his life spiraling. He described himself as a “black hole” and indicated that anytime he received praise for himself or his work, the admiration would only last for a moment until it quickly disappeared. Now he’s hoping that the lessons from the scandal can help others who may have been in a dark place similar to his.
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As for where his career is now, Hammer admits that Hollywood has not come calling him back, although he did say that he has co-wrote a screenplay that he hopes to get made. It was later revealed that the script mirrors the actor’s life, but he didn’t go into further detail about the project. Hammer said:
“We’re in the middle of trying to put that project together. We have a script and it’s something we’re passionate about and it’s something that I’m going to go do. I don’t know what the future of that is going to look like. I don’t know what the response of that is going to be, but those things are out of my control.”
