Armie Hammer ‘grateful’ for recovery after misconduct allegations
The star said the claims had felt like an anvil on his head.
Armie Hammer has said that the fallout from sexual misconduct allegations made against him has felt “like anvil on his head” but he is feeling grateful for being in recovery.
The US actor, known for the Oscar-winning film Call Me By Your Name has denied all criminal allegations against him following police in California investigating sexual assault claims in 2021.
Last year, Los Angeles County District Attorney decided not to charge him.
Hammer, also known for Death On The Nile, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Social Network, told Sunday’s The Painful Lessons Podcast on YouTube: “Whatever it was that people said, whatever it was that happened, I’m now 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 where I had self-esteem. I never knew how to give myself love.
“I never knew how to give myself validation but I had this job where I was able to get it from so many people that I never had to learn how to give it to myself.”
He also described himself as previously being a “black hole, you know, no matter how much compliments, and no matter how much adoration, people were throwing my way” and said this was transformed into “hate, like on a global scale” following the various claims made against him.
In 2022, the Discovery+ documentary House Of Hammer, produced by his aunt, Casey Hammer, aired, making a series of allegations.
It claimed the actor had sent threatening voice notes, and unusual messages.
Hammer also faced claims that he sent explicit messages on social media.
He also said: “Now at the time, I didn’t have the wherewithal, or frame of mind to understand that this was a lesson.
“But now being, not only removed from the initial chaos of it, but also having learned everything that I’ve learned as a result from it. I look at it now. And I go, ‘You know what, like, it was awful. And I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy’.
“But for the people in my life that I truly love. I hope some version, preferably smaller than what I went through, would happen to them as well. So they could learn everything that I’ve learned. And I feel great about it.”
He also said if “everything is easy”, humans become a “delicate little thing”.
Hammer added: “When you get an anvil dropped on your head, it wakes you up real quick.”
“It killed me,” the actor also said. “It killed my ego. It killed all the people around me that I thought were my friends that weren’t… In a flash, went away.
“But the buildings were still standing. Yeah, I’m still here, I still have my health. And I’m really grateful for that.”
Hammer said his career was “nowhere”, explaining he is not getting jobs and is “not a viable commodity” in Hollywood.
Hammer added that making films is his “passion” and so he is making his “own sandbox”, by writing a script.
He also explained that he went to a treatment centre for “addiction issues”, which also helped his mental health.
Hammer shares two children with his former partner, the TV personality Elizabeth Chambers.
Following the initial controversy, Hammer was replaced in various productions.
He was to star opposite Jennifer Lopez in comedy film Shotgun Wedding, before Josh Duhamel stepped into the role.
Miles Teller also took over from Hammer in the TV series The Offer, a drama about the making of The Godfather.
