On Monday, two years after a woman named Effie accused the actor Sex-money-drugs-and-betrayal”>Armie Hammer of violently raping her, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office confirmed to CNN that it is currently reviewing claims of sexual assault made against the actor.
Though the LA district attorney’s office did not identify the accuser or accusers, Hammer has been the subject of an LAPD investigation related to Effie’s allegations since February 2021. The month after the investigation began, Effie gave a press conference detailing the alleged attack, which she says took place in 2017.
“I thought that he was going to kill me,” Effie said through tears. During the alleged four-hour attack, which she says took place on April 24, 2017, Effie claimed that the actor “repeatedly slammed my head against a wall, bruising my face. He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent…. During those four hours, I tried to get away but he wouldn’t let me.”
Hammer denied the allegations through his lawyer, who issued a statement claiming that “all interactions between Mr. Hammer and his former partner were consensual. They were fully discussed, agreed upon in advance with his partners, and mutually participatory.” (Hammer’s lawyer declined to comment to VF on the district attorney development.)
In Hammer’s first interview about the allegations, with Air Mail this February, the actor confirmed that he engaged with Effie in what he called a “consensual non-consent scene.” He explained, “This alleged rape was a scene that was her idea. She planned all of the details out, all the way down to what Starbucks I would see her at, how I would follow her home, how her front door would be open and unlocked and I would come in.”
Though Hammer has said he is six feet five, the actor told Air Mail, “You know, the sub [the submissive partner] is the one who actually has all the power. Always. They’re the ones who can say ‘stop’ at any moment. They’re the ones who set the boundaries.”
In a statement Effie shared with Vanity Fair, the accuser said, “I am severely traumatized by Armie. I feel disappointed and disgusted that he’s not taking accountability for what he did to me, and that he’s resorted to attacking me…. Armie has no remorse. He continues to cause pain, and I don’t think he’s changed at all.”
In the interview with Air Mail, during which Hammer attempted to clear his name, the actor maintained that he did not engage in nonconsensual sexual activity. But he admitted to emotionally abusing the women he dated.
“I had a very intense and extreme lifestyle,” Hammer said, “and I would scoop up these women, bring them into it—into this whirlwind of travel and sex and drugs and big emotions flying around—and then as soon as I was done, I’d just drop them off and move on to the next woman, leaving that woman feeling abandoned or used…. I’m here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an asshole, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on. And treated people more poorly than they should have been treated.”
In addition to Effie’s allegations, several women took to social media in 2021 to accuse Hammer of emotional abuse, manipulation, and violence. (Hammer has denied all allegations aside from emotional abuse.) Afterward, Hammer stepped away from two high-profile projects, a rom-com with Jennifer Lopez and a Paramount series about the making of The Godfather. Shortly following, his agency, WME, dropped him.
Months later, Hammer checked into an in-patient rehabilitation facility for drug, alcohol, and sex issues. As VF first reported, the actor’s friend and mentor Robert Downey Jr. footed the bill for Hammer’s nearly six-month stay.
Hammer got a regular job last summer—selling time-shares at a resort in the Cayman Islands. But after the job leaked, stunning the internet, the actor—who was already the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation in Los Angeles—says he became the subject of an immigration investigation too.