Armie Hammer’s Redemption Tour Deserves To Crash And Burn
Armie Hammer is the latest male celebrity to launch an image rehabilitation tour without actually making amends for any of his actions, alleged or admitted.
In 2021, the Call Me By Your Name star was accused of having an abusive cannibalism kink, of branding one of his girlfriends, and finally of sexual assault and rape. Hammer and his team have denied any sexual abuse, although Hammer has admitted to being emotionally abusive in his relationships.
When the allegations dropped, Hammer’s movie career all but vanished and he was reportedly cut off by his exceptionally wealthy family. (His great-grandfather was an oil tycoon and his great-grandmother a baroness.) He’s now doing the “apology/redemption tour” attempted by so many “canceled” celebrities. Back in June he said in an interview that he was “really grateful” for everything that had happened … although chances are that his alleged victims weren’t.
Now, Hammer has gone to Piers Morgan (because it’s always Piers Morgan) to try and rehabilitate his image further. He gave an extensive interview on the show Piers Morgan Uncensored where he shared his purported version of what happened between and his accusers, and it doesn’t make him look as good as he was surely hoping.
Hammer admitted to branding a girlfriend
A woman named Paige Lorenze accused Hammer of branding her by carving the letter “A” into her pelvis. Hammer admits that this happened, but he also significantly downplayed it. Here’s how Hammer claims it played out:
“There was a scenario that we talked about beforehand. I would basically take a little, tiny point and just kind of trace the letter ‘A’ — just the tip of a small knife. There wasn’t even blood. … It was more like a scrape.”
To some people, Hammer said, branding would be “a very romantic gesture.” Clearly Lorenze didn’t think so, though—not that Morgan gave her the opportunity to refute Hammer’s dismissive story.
Hammer claims everything that happened with his accusers, including the branding, was consensual BDSM—something his accusers have repeatedly denied—and the talk about cannibalism was a “sexual fantasy.” All throughout his would-be comeback, he’s made it clear he’s not actually a cannibal, and he told Morgan, “I don’t think that’s any different than when someone looks at a baby and goes, ‘Oh my God, look at those cute little fat legs, I just want to eat you up.'” Plenty would disagree with him there.
But the allegations of rape and sexual abuse need to get the same spotlight that the easily sensationalized cannibalism comments did. Hammer was investigated by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office and the LAPD, but in the end, they couldn’t find enough evidence to press charges. However, the entertainment industry is perfectly entitled to choose not to make him the face of major franchises in the wake of what was a truly upsetting scandal.
Hammer insists that none of his girlfriends “were hurt or upset because I pushed any sexual boundaries.” Yet multiple women have shared their stories claiming otherwise. This appears to be just another instance of a powerful man trying to rehab his image while further harming the women who had the courage to speak out against him in the first place.
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