Armie Hammer is blaming accusations of cannibalism for his “career death,” and I’m here to tell you he is probably correct.
Hammer’s acting career was going great guns until 2021 when direct messages he allegedly sent to numerous women about his cannibalistic fantasies and sadomasochistic fetishes were leaked to the public. He was also accused of outright sexual abuse by several women. The career fallout was swift. He lost his talent agency, publicist, and roles in two high-profile projects: the Paramount+ streaming series The Offer and as co-star in a Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy.
The criminal accusations quickly fell apart. After an investigation, Hammer was not charged. But it made no difference. The texts appeared to be real, and they were disturbing enough.
“It’s almost like a neutron bomb went off in my life,” he said on a recent podcast. “It killed me, it killed my ego, it killed all the people around me that I thought were my friends that weren’t — all of those people, in a flash, went away.”
There were rumors Hammer was reduced to selling time-shares in the Cayman Islands.
“But … I’m still here,” he said. “I still have my health, and I’m really grateful for that.”
“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 –” Hammer explained, “ — 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 — where I had self-esteem.”
“People called me a cannibal, and everyone believed them. They’re like, ‘Yep, that guy ate people,’” Hammer said while laughing. “Do you know what you have to do to be a cannibal? You have to eat people! How am I going to be a cannibal?! It was bizarre.”
Hammer says he is now sober and working on a comeback script.
There are plenty of Hollywood people who have been unfairly smeared and ruined by the politically-motivated #MeToo witch hunts, no question. It’s a little different with Hammer.
What happened to Hammer is one of those scandals where his public image as a suave, cool, got-it-together leading man and romantic interest was annihilated by a public revelation. Errol Flynn survived statutory rape allegations, not because he was acquitted, but because the allegation fit his image as a seducer. Robert Mitchum survived a marijuana charge for the same reason—everyone already saw him as a bad boy. If some punk rocker were hit with the “cannibal” thing, it would have no effect at all. But Hammer’s image couldn’t survive it. Fair or not, it’s now the first thing you think about when you see him.
The same thing happened when Hugh Grant was busted with a street hooker some 30 years ago. Back then, Grant was the nice, nervous, faithful British man with floppy hair. The idea he had a dark side devastated his image. Today, he mostly plays pricks, which appear to be closer to who he really is.
The Hammer abuse allegations might have been discounted, but the non-abuse/non-criminal fetish and kink messages do appear to have come from him. It’s creepy stuff and that’s all it takes.
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