The Armie Hammer Allegations Are Horrific, but Don't Get Distracted by the Gritty Details

Since January, Armie Hammer’s name has raced across the news. Through the onslaught of information, it’s important to pay attention to the right details. The horror of the Armie Hammer allegations revolve around consent and consent alone. 

When I saw Armie Hammer trending on Twitter a few months ago, I thought it was going to be over something funny. I brought it up at a birthday party saying, “So, who wants to explain this to me?”

Everyone immediately winced. Someone said, “Oh, no, trust me. You don’t want to know about that.”

They were right. And I should mention that if you’re triggered by mentions of rape and sexual violence, you definitely stop reading further. 

But if you’re in the same boat as I was, and you’re sick of not understanding the controversy, I’ll give you a basic timeline. In early January, an Instagram account @houseofeffie started sharing messages that they claimed were from Armie Hammer, which described fantasies of cannibalism and sexual domination. The messages went viral as the account allegedly started sharing DMs and stories from other victims as well.

On January 13, Armie Hammer made a statement to People about leaving his most recent role. "I'm not responding to these bull— claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic."

In February, Hammer’s exes came forward with statements that largely support any of Hammer’s victims. 

His ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers stated on Instagram, “For weeks, I’ve been trying to process everything that has transpired. I am shocked, heartbroken, and devastated. Heartbreak aside, I am listening, and will continue to listen and educate myself on these delicate matters. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know. I support any victim of assault or abuse and urge anyone who has experienced this pain to seek the help she or he needs to heal.”

His ex-girlfriend Paige Lorenze told Page Six that he allegedly carved the letter “A” into her skin. In a separate statement, she also provided a screenshot of her DMs with Hammer, who messaged that he wanted to turn her into his “perfect little slave.” 

“These latest messages are just further evidence of the reality of his dangerous proclivities and his reaction shows his blatant disregard for the women he has traumatized,” Lorenze stated to Page Six. “I want to offer my continued support to the other women who have been preyed on by men and have the courage to come forward.”

As of now, a woman called “Effie” — whose full name is being kept private — has accused Hammer of rape publicly. In a press conference with her attorney Gloria Allred, Effie stated, “On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles, during which he repeatedly slapped my head against a wall, bruising my face… He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent.”

Hammer is currently under investigation by the LAPD for sexual assault. He denies any claims of non-consensual acts. His lawyer Andrew Brettler revealed some of the messages between Hammer and Effie, which showed recent correspondence in July 2020, to imply that Effie was not emotionally affected after this incident in 2017. He declared: 

“From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with [Effie] — and every other sexual partner of his for that matter — have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory. [Effie’s] attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.”

There is a lot of information to process surrounding this story. Many of the messages are unverified, and many of the details are shocking. On January 16, Rolling Stone released an article that provides some advice on how to analyze this news. 

In “We’re All Missing the Point of the Armie Hammer Cannibalism Scandal,” EJ Dickson asks professional dominatrix Empress Wu about Hammer’s cannibalism. After looking through the unverified messages, she explains that kinks and fetishes are not the issue. 

“It doesn’t matter what fetish it was, that’s irrelevant,” she stated. “But when there’s a boundary violation that is something that should always be paid attention to.”

Dickson writes, “Most experienced members of the kink community put a high premium on consent, and as is the case with most BDSM scenes, all of these dynamics are carefully negotiated beforehand, with both parties participating in an extensive post-play briefing to share what they did and didn’t enjoy about the experience; aftercare, or the period of time where the dominant tends to the sub’s physical and emotional needs, is imperative for even the most experienced kinksters.”

After describing her side of the story, Paige Lorenze responded to accusations that she is “kink shaming.” In apparently deleted tweets that Page Six reported, Lorenze responded, “kink shaming? nah. this is just holding a dangerous, delusional, egoist accountable for preying on women and hurting them.” 

Lorenze also retweeted a response by Amy Smolcic which stated, “Men need to stop using 'kink shaming' as a smokescreen to disguise their abuse. Manipulating, gaslighting and abusing women isn't a kink someone should have. This isn't healthy.”

Throughout these stories, pay attention to the red flags of rape and non-consensual behavior. Don’t get distracted by claims of kink-shaming or the shock value of cannibalistic fantasies. It also doesn’t matter that his victims continuously engaged in this behavior; consent is a constant process, and if they didn’t give it even one time, then their consent was violated. 

And while we cannot verify some of the anonymous messages that @houseofeffie posted, women like Lorenze and Effie have come forward publicly to speak out about Hammer’s predatory behavior. That is all we should need to believe them.