The Los Angeles Police Department reported that an investigation into allegations against Armie Hammer has been opened, according to The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter. A woman named as Effie, identified as 24 years old and living in Europe, said in a news conference on Thursday with lawyer Gloria Allred that she was raped by Hammer on April 24, 2017 for more than four hours, during which time he was violent, slamming her head into the wall and leaving her face bruised. She added that she “tried to get away and he wouldn’t let me. I thought he was going to kill me” and that “he abused me mentally, emotionally, and sexually.”
This is the latest in a series of bad press for Hammer, an actor best known for his breakthrough performance as twin Harvard students Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in The Social Network and his role opposite Timothée Chalamet in the 2017 Best Picture nominee Call Me By Your Name. Earlier this year, private messages purportedly from Hammer were published that claimed he practiced cannibalism and desired to drink women’s blood. His wife of ten years, Elizabeth Chambers, filed for divorce in July 2020.
The LAPD confirmed that “a female community member” had provided information that prompted the launch of the investigation by its Special Assault Section, and a spokeswoman, Officer Norma Eisenman, said that Hammer is “a named suspect in an alleged sexual assault.” Hammer, through his lawyer, Andrew B. Brettler, has categorically denied all allegations.
He has defended his behavior by arguing that it was all completely consensual, with apparent evidence to back up his story and contradict what has been reported about him.
Though he has not admitted complicity, Hammer has removed himself from a number of projects as a result of the accusations he faces. Hammer left Lionsgate’s Jennifer Lopez starrer Shotgun Wedding in January, saying that he needed to be with his family while these “vicious and spurious online attacks” were being made against him. He also departed Sam Esmail’s Watergate TV series Gaslit due to scheduling conflicts with another series, Paramount Plus’ Godfather-centered The Offer, but also left that show at the end of January.