Armie Hammer breaks silence on cannibalism accusations: ‘I’m really grateful for it’

Movies

By Nika Shakhnazarova

Armie Hammer has broken his silence over the shock cannibalism allegations that had imploded his Hollywood career.

The “Call Me By Your Name” actor, 37, had been enjoying global stardom when a sudden fall from grace took place after a series of disturbing allegations were made against him by his former girlfriends.

In February 2021, Effie Angelova, 26, accused Hammer of “violently” raping her and abusing her “mentally, emotionally and sexually” in 2017 when she was 20 years old.

Despite claims he has cannibalism fantasies, Hammer denied the claims, saying there was no criminal wrongdoing in his four-year relationship with her.

Hammer’s other ex, Courtney Vucekovich, told Page Six in January 2021 that the actor told her “he wants to break my rib and barbecue and eat it.”

Appearing on the “Painful Lessons” podcast Sunday, the actor addressed the shocking cannibalism allegations that have plagued his reputation.

“People called me a cannibal, and everyone believed them,” he said on the podcast. “They’re like, ‘Yep, that guy ate people.’ Like, what? What are you talking about? Do you know what you have to do to be a cannibal? You have to eat people! How am I going to be a cannibal?! It was bizarre.”

Hammer said that there were “discrepancies in whatever it was that people said,” adding that he’s “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,” Hammer explained.

“I never knew how to give myself love. I never knew how to give myself self-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.”

After the allegations came to light, Hammer’s silver screen career wasn’t the only thing that crumbled.

The actor’s marriage to wife Elizabeth Chambers also fell apart, as she filed for divorce in July 2020. The exes share two children.

“It was an ego death, a career death. A neutron bomb went off in my life. It killed off [everything],” he said, adding that he was feeling suicidal at the time.

“There were a lot of times when I thought I can’t take this anymore. I was getting hate…so it just went right in… there was a time.”

“I was standing at the shore and I swam out really far and just laying there..a half-assed suicide attempt…But I thought I couldn’t do that to my kids,” he added.

Hammer admitted that his acting career is “nowhere now.”

In a desperate bid to spark a career rebirth, Hammer said he’s creating his “own sandbox” by writing a screenplay.