TW: cannibalism, physical/mental abuse

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the recent accusations against the actor Armie Hammer that have been going viral on Twitter and TikTok. You might know Armie Hammer from movies like The Social Network or his role as Oliver in Call Me By Your Name, where he gained a significant amount of fame with his costar, Timothée Chalamet, who we all, for the most part, know and love.

The allegations against Armie Hammer? According to screen-recordings of Instagram DMs between him and an anonymous woman who posted the conversations, the man has some dark interests, including none other than: cannibalism. The screen-recordings include graphic and lol pretty explicit content, with Hammer saying things like how he wanted to drink her blood and eat her, even going as far as to literally say: “I am 100% a cannibal…That’s scary to admit. I’ve never admitted that before”. The screen-recordings thus far have not been verified, with Hammer’s representatives denying to comment on the subject at all, while Hammer has come out and denied them completely, even gaining the support of Disney star Miss Bella Thorne. She came out on both Twitter and Instagram and said that someone must have faked the screenshots, saying that “there’s no way he’s a freaking CANNIBAL.” Interesting take on the subject, Miss Thorne, but there’s also no evidence as to why she would even really know any intimate details of Hammer’s life.

Despite the screen-recordings and screenshots being unverified, multiple other women have also come out and accused Hammer for similar actions against them, most of which they stated they did not consent to. One woman, Courtney Vucekovich, the creator of an app called Flashd, dated Hammer from June all the way to October from last year, and despite her not being able to verify the DMs, she said that she didn’t find them surprising at all. Vucekovich called her relationship with Hammer as “manipulative” and declined to comment on acts he’d done to her in order to not overshadow the emotional abuse she suffered during the relationship.

Another more recent testimony, from Paige Lorenze, a former professional skier and now Instagram influencer, spoke out on Sunday, January 24th, about her own experiences with Hammer. Lorenze stated that he would often use drugs when they were together, and made her feel as if she had to do the same. During their time together, Lorenze felt “brainwashed” by the way that Hammer would treat her, continuously seeming to manipulate her into doing acts that he wanted, many of which would harm her physically, and not to mention, emotionally.

She even stated that at one point Hammer directly labeled himself to her as a “sadomasochist.” One particular moment was when he carved the letter ‘A’ into her skin during an intimate moment, despite her not giving him her full consent to do so. He justified it as being symbolic of their long-term commitment to each other, but Lorenze stated that it felt more like he was branding her as his “property.” There were also other moments in the relationship according to Lorenze where he said similar things such as wanting to “have a doctor remove her ribs so he could eat them.”

In response to Lorenze’s statements, Hammer’s attorneys have denied her allegations, saying that all the actions taking during their time together were entirely consensual. Lorenze has said that he would justify his actions as being simple k!nks, but in retrospect, she sees him as a genuine danger to other women who could be vulnerable to manipulative relationships and could be taken advantage of as she felt she was. She now uses her platform as an Instagram influencer to support people who are going through or have gone through abusive relationships, and has also said to have gained the support of Hammer’s ex-wife, Elizabeth Chambers, wanting  Lorenze to get her story out.

Hammer seems to have been facing a lot of issues this past year, as he and his wife are going through a divorce, evidently due to some past infidelity during their marriage and a fight for custody of their two young children. He is currently holed up in the Cayman Islands.

One thing is certain: abusive relationships such as the ones outlined by all three of these women are a real danger and leave people victims of extensive mental and/or physical trauma. Almost anyone can be a victim of one, so raising awareness and people sharing their stories of their experiences are so important in allowing others to come to terms with their own situations.

On a more light-hearted note, here’s a scene from Call Me By Your Name of Hammer dancing to Ke$ha’s Cannibal, as we all wonder if we’ll ever be able to watch this movie in the same way ever again. (Maybe the one positive thing to come out of this is that they probably won’t make this movie’s sequel and ruin the beauty of CMBYN as a standalone movie, but then again Hammer kind of ruined a bit of it with his “100% a cannibal” self…)