Why Hollywood Stopped Casting Armie Hammer

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This article contains references to sexual assault.

Armie Hammer's fall from grace is something to behold. At the start of the decade, the California native seemed destined for a long and successful career in Hollywood. Indeed, after portraying the Winklevoss twins in "The Social Network," he landed high profile roles in action movies "The Lone Ranger" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E," bagged a best supporting actor nomination at the Golden Globes for his turn in "Call Me by Your Name," and received critical acclaim for his performance in Broadway play "Straight White Men." He was even crowned one of People's Sexiest Man Alive!

But Hammer's world came crashing down in January 2021 thanks to a series of disturbing allegations, which essentially left him unemployable and forced him to retreat from the spotlight entirely. From accusations of cannibalism and claims of assault to financial troubles, misjudged attempts at humor, and a podcast that redefined T.M.I., here's a look at why the once in-demand star is now considered box office poison.

Armie Hammer's downfall ultimately began in January 2021 when disturbing messages he'd allegedly sent to an anonymous woman were leaked by the Instagram account House of Effie, the most shocking of which concerned cannibalism. "If I wanted to cut off one of your toes and keep it with me in my pocket so I always had a piece of you in my possession?" was just one of the offending examples (via the Daily Mail).

Hammer's reputation took another hit when an ex-girlfriend came forward to claim that she had heard of his flesh-eating fantasies first-hand. "He said to me he wants to break my rib and barbecue and eat it," Courtney Vucekovich told Page Six. "He says, 'I want to take a bite out of you.' If I had a little cut on my hand, he'd like suck it or lick it. That's about as weird as we got." Another former partner, Paige Lorenze, also revealed to the same site that "The Social Network" star had also talked of wanting to eat her ribs, but that she didn't take such talk seriously until hearing of similar allegations.

During an appearance on "The Louis Theroux Podcast" in 2025, Hammer insisted (via The Hollywood Reporter) that he wasn't Hollywood's answer to Hannibal Lecter: "You know what you have to do to actually be a cannibal? You have to actually eat human flesh. So no."

Hollywood was quick to react to all the damaging allegations made against the oft-shady Armie Hammer. He was dropped from "The Offer," the Paramount+ drama about the making of all-time classic "The Godfather," and was replaced by Josh Duhamel in action rom-com "Shotgun Wedding." And things went from bad to worse when he was dumped by his talent agency.

Indeed, just a few weeks after Hammer was accused of everything from rape to harboring cannibal fantasies, William Morris Endeavor decided to remove the actor from their books, a move which was soon copied by his publicist, too. Beforehand, the California native had seemed relatively optimistic that his career would be able to weather the storm.

"I'm not responding to these bulls*** claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic," Hammer said in a statement given to USA Today, appearing to imply that it was his decision to exit "Shotgun Wedding." "Lionsgate is supporting me in this, and I'm grateful to them for that."

While the initial allegations about Armie Hammer came from an anonymous source, several former girlfriends have shared their past experiences with the star, with some coming forward to disclose their distressing experiences. One of the most incriminating accounts came from Paige Lorenze, who'd dated the actor for several months in 2020.

In a revealing interview with Vanity Fair, Lorenze revealed that Hammer got incredibly intense remarkably quickly, informing her of all his chilling details about his past and family history, essentially from the moment they met. "He said his grandfather was this kind of very scary person who had these crazy sex parties where there would be guns," she remarked. "He thought it was cool and was proud of him in a way."

Hammer's behavior reportedly became increasingly perturbing, according to Lorenze, including trying to enforce rules about her daily life. "And then I just started to feel really unsafe and really sick to my stomach about things," she admitted. The 20-something soon chose to call time on the relationship via text, "Because you never know what you're going to get with him — he's kind of a scary person."

While the woman who first made allegations against Armie Hammer initially chose to remain anonymous, she later revealed her identity to formally accuse the actor of rape. At a press conference in which attorney Gloria Allred was joined, Efrosina Angelova spoke of an attack that occurred over the course of four hours in 2017, in which she feared for her life.

Angelova said that her face was left bruised during the ordeal after Hammer slammed her head repeatedly against a wall. She also claimed that her feet were beaten with a crop so badly that she struggled to walk for the following week. "I tried to get away but he wouldn't let me," she added (via People). "I thought that he was going to kill me. He then left with no concern for my well-being."

Hammer vehemently denied Angelova's accusations, arguing via his lawyer that their relationship was always "completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory." Following an investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department decided that there wasn't sufficient evidence to take the matter any further.

Armie Hammer may have always refuted the incredibly serious allegations made against him. However, the fact that he checked into a Florida rehab facility shortly after his reputation fell into tatters further suggested that not all was right in the actor's camp.

It was never confirmed exactly what treatment Hammer sought at the clinic. But a close pal told Vanity Fair that the star had reached out to ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers beforehand with a pledge to get healthy: "Everyone looks at Armie thinking that he's had some sort of privileged life — and that must mean there were no problems in his youth and everything was peachy keen. But that's not necessarily the way things go. Just because you come from an upbringing where financial resources are plentiful doesn't mean life isn't without problems."

It's not known exactly how long the star spent in the program. But in December later that year, his lawyer told People, "I can confirm that Mr. Hammer has left the treatment facility and is doing great."

Just when Armie Hammer no doubt believed that the negative attention surrounding his private life had died down, along came another damning indictment in the form of a Discovery+ documentary. Yes, in September 2022, "House of Hammer" delved deep into both his own and the rest of his family's dark history. And several new revelations came to light.

In the first episode, an audio recording sent to an anonymous woman finds Hammer getting very specific about an unspecific wager. "My bet was going to involve showing up at your place and completely tying you up and incapacitating you, then being able to do whatever I wanted to every single hole in your body until I was done with you," he said (via the Los Angeles Times).

The three-part series also featured an interview with former partner Courtney Vucekovich, who admitted to losing her sense of self while dating Hammer in 2020. Even the actor's aunt, Casey Hammer, stuck the knife in, claiming that she wasn't at all surprised about the allegations made toward her nephew, arguing that abuse within her extended family was rife.

Armie Hammer's personal woes continued in 2022 when he found himself in an expensive new legal battle with American Express after reportedly accruing a debt of more than $66,000. No doubt much to his embarrassment, People magazine obtained a court document which stated that the credit card company had been forced to seek action following a string of missed payments.

The news came as something of a surprise considering Hammer — who opened the American Express account when he was still married to Elizabeth Chambers back in 2011 — is the great-grandson of Armand Hammer, an oil tycoon who died with $800 million to his name. But various sources claim that the actor doesn't see a cent of his family's vast wealth.

The year previously, former girlfriend Paige Lorenze told Vanity Fair that — despite appearing in money-spinning hits such as "The Social Network" and "Cars 3," Hammer's bank balance wasn't what she expected. In fact, she ended up paying for everything during their brief time together, a period when the star was relying on financial loans from close pals.

Elizabeth Chambers has been largely supportive of her ex-husband since all the damaging allegations came to light. But she has occasionally admitted that their own marriage, which officially lasted 13 years, wasn't exactly a bed of roses.

In 2025, Chambers hosted "Toxic," an Investigation Discovery insight into the darker side of relationships, covering everything from gaslighting to love-bombing. And while interviewing one particular victim of domestic abuse, she alluded to her own troubles. "When it comes to toxic relationships, no one is immune," she said (via People) as a snap of her and Hammer appeared on screen. "Navigating through my own heartbreak took me back to my roots as an investigative journalist."

Three years earlier, Chambers had also hinted that she was struggling with the aftermath of her break-up after confessing to watching the Discovery+ series "House of Hammer." "It was obviously heartbreaking on so many levels and very painful," she told E! News. "But at the same time, it exists. The past is the past and all we can do is take this as a moment to learn and listen, and hopefully process and heal in every capacity."

The tabloids had a field day in 2022 when Armie Hammer, an actor who'd previously appeared in Oscar fare such as "The Social Network," "Call Me by Your Name," and "J. Edgar," was spotted selling timeshares at a Cayman Islands hotel.

Initially, a bizarre rumor had spread about Hammer's life, suggesting that the California native had been making ends meet as a hotel concierge. But an unnamed source confirmed to Variety that Hammer had made the equally unlikely transition from Hollywood star to salesman. "The reality is he's totally broke and is trying to fill the days and earn money to support his family," they said.

While many considered this to be quite the comedown, Hammer himself later claimed he was more than happy to be working a regular job. "I loved it," he told Bill Maher's podcast "Club Random" (via E! News) in 2024. I'd love to be a timeshare salesman. It is so fun. Oh my god, it is so fun." When the host said that it took "balls" to make the transition, the actor replied, "It's not balls, that's the wrong vowel. It's bills. I've got two kids."

In 2023, two years after the various allegations made against the actor forced him to take a break from the web, Armie Hammer decided to come back to social media. But rather than return with a simple selfie or family snap, the "Death on the Nile" star seemed to lean into his new status as a Hollywood oddball.

Indeed, Hammer uploaded a video to Instagram taken from inside a moving train carriage set to Gitkin's "El Millonario." Filmed in a point-of-view style, a laptop can also be seen playing a clip of a shirtless running man doing his best to keep up with the speed of a horse. It's not known if the star was the individual watching the footage or what it all means, but it certainly caught attention.

The response to the mysterious post was mixed, with many comments welcoming Hammer back into the social media fold, and others essentially arguing that he should have stayed away. The Californian also scrubbed all of his previous content from the platform, but has since added a further 64 posts and still has a million followers to his famous name.

With plenty more gaps in his schedule, Armie Hammer decided to pass the time like almost every other middle-aged male celebrity in the modern age: he started a podcast. Unfortunately for the star, the self-involved nature of "Armie HammerTime" didn't really endear him to his critics.

In the 2024 first episode, Hammer spent a significant amount of time bemoaning how his only future job was a minor role in a low-budget movie unlikely to be seen by many. And although he invited comedian Tom Arnold to reel off anecdotes about his own troubled past, the host seemed more interested in telling his own stories. "In the end he's so constrained that he literally has to ask Arnold to ask him a question, just so that he can get a word in," noted a barbed review from The Guardian.

Hammer made matters worse with his choice of special guest for episode two: his mom. And Dru Hammer soon proved that she's as unfiltered as her son, telling listeners how, for his 38th birthday, she decided to give him the gift of a vasectomy.

Armie Hammer's filmography has been largely free of comedy. And judging by his ill-advised attempts at humor in the wake of his various scandals, that's probably a good thing.

In 2022, Hammer made light of all the cannibal accusations by guesting in the promo for Georgie Leahy's "Typical Squeeze." Hammer not only plays a man named Kannibal Ken who pops up at the back of the singer's car in a brief cameo, but he's also followed by a series of flailing CGI body parts.

And two years later, he told listeners to his "Armie HammerTime" podcast that he was now fully leaning into his new persona as Tinseltown's answer to Hannibal Lecter. "I'm not gonna lie," he said (via E! News). "I kind of like the cannibal stuff now. I'm just like, 'Hey, I'm a cannibal.' What makes more noise? 'Armie Hammer is a cannibal' or 'Armie Hammer might not be a cannibal.'" Understandably, such quips were largely viewed as the height of bad taste. 

In the 2010s, Armie Hammer worked with directors of the caliber of David Fincher, Clint Eastwood, and Luca Guadagnino. In 2025, the only filmmaker prepared to take a gamble on him was the man behind exploitation comedy "Blubberella."

Yes, Hammer may well have hoped that Hollywood was ready to embrace his talents again after he joined the likes of William H. Macy and Thomas Jane in the western "Frontier Crucible." But it doesn't seem as though his phone line was particularly busy, as Uwe Boll's "Citizen Vigilante" is the only film role he's landed since.

Hammer plays the titular crime-fighter who attains heroic status on social media but incurs the wrath of the local police force in a Croatian-shot film from the four-time Razzie-nominated Boll. The actor, however, is still insisting that he's in demand. "My dance card's getting pretty full," he claimed on the podcast "Your Mom's House" (via Variety). "That first job that I turned down after four years of this s***, I mean, it was the best feeling I've ever had." 

So, it seems like Armie Hammer just can't stop landing himself in it. As well as making light of all the serious allegations made against him, the California native has also confessed, apropos of nothing, to essentially drugging individuals without their knowledge.

During a 2025 episode of his "Armie HammerTime" podcast, the "Sorry to Bother You" star opened up about one of his favorite pastimes during his Hollywood heyday: "I loved poisoning people," he said (via Daily Mail). "I loved smoking marijuana with people to the point where they were like, 'I'm so stoned, I can't find my feet ... I loved marijuana roofie-ing people."

Hammer, who disclosed that he was smoking up to 20 joints every day during this period, also admitted to getting his "The Lone Ranger" co-star Johnny Depp "super-stoned" on the promotional circuit for the flop film. "They never let me hang out with Johnny on the press tour after that. They would always keep us apart. They never let us do press together. They were like, 'You two cannot hang out anymore!'"

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).