Shamed Armie Hammer breaks his silence to say HE was sexually assaulted by a pastor as a child

Disgraced actor Armie Hammer has broken his silence to claim he was molested by a pastor at 13, but insisted that while he was an ‘a**hole’ he is not a criminal in his first interview since becoming a pariah following a series of depraved revelations about his sex life. 

Hammer, 36, has not been heard from and rarely seen since a woman named Effie, 26, who has not given her name due to fears of retaliation and harassment, accused Hammer in 2021 of having ‘violently raped’ her. 

This led to a series of accusations by women involving his interest in kinky sex and even cannibalism.  

Hammer has denied the accusations through his attorney and said that all of his sexual encounters have been ‘completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance and mutually participatory.’ 

In his first interview since the scandal with Graydon Carter’s Air Mail, Hammer continued to deny the accusations, though he admitted to being emotionally abusive ‘one hundred percent,’ he’s not a criminal and instead a victim of cancel culture.

‘I’m now a healthier, happier, more balanced person,’ he told Air Mail. ‘I’m able to be there for my kids in a way I never was. I’m able to be there for my dad as he’s dying in a way that I would have never been able to be. I’m truly grateful for my life and my recovery and everything. I would not go back and undo everything that’s happened to me.’

Hammer, who first came to viewers attention in The Social Network before going on to be nominated for a Golden Globe in Call Me By Your Name, gave the interview because he wants to ‘own my mistakes’ but also say that he doesn’t regret having been publicly shamed. 

‘I’m here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an a**hole, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on… I’m now a healthier, happier, more balanced person. I’m able to be there for my kids in a way I never was… I’m truly grateful for my life and my recovery and everything. I would not go back and undo everything that’s happened to me,’ he said.

Despite that, Hammer still feels he’s a victim of cancel culture and wants to see more chances for public rehabilitation, like his mentor Robert Downey Jr. received when going through drug and alcohol abuse.  

‘There are examples everywhere, of people who went through those things and found redemption through a new path,’ he said. ‘And that, I feel like, is what’s missing in this cancel-culture, woke-mob business. The minute anyone does anything wrong, they’re thrown away. There’s no chance for rehabilitation.’ 

Hammer admitted going through hell during the scandal, at one point attempting suicide in the Cayman Islands. 

Hammer – seen here with father Michael – who first came to viewers attention in The Social Network before going on to be nominated for a Golden Globe in Call Me By Your Name, gave the interview because he wants to ‘own my mistakes’ but also say that he doesn’t regret having been publicly shamed

Hammer has denied the accusations through his attorney and said that all of his sexual encounters have been ‘completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance and mutually participatory’

Hammer admitted going through hell during the scandal, at one point attempting suicide in the Cayman Islands

‘I just walked out into the ocean and swam out as far as I could and hoped that either I drowned, or was hit by a boat, or eaten by a shark,’ Hammer said. ‘Then I realized that my kids were still on shore, and that I couldn’t do that to my kids.’ 

Hammer defends his sexual interests by saying he has had an interest in BDSM since the age of 13, when he was sexually abused by a youth pastor.

‘What that did for me was it introduced sexuality into my life in a way that it was completely out of my control,’ Hammer said. ‘I was powerless in the situation. I had no agency in the situation. Sexuality was introduced to me in a scary way where I had no control. My interests then went to: I want to have control in the situation, sexually.’ 

Hammer’s godmother, Candace Garvey, one of only two people he told when it happened, corroborated his story to Air Mail. 

The actor further defended himself against the accusations of a woman who went by the name ‘Effie,’ who has since been identified as Efrosina Angelova.

The actor further defended himself against the accusations of a woman who went by the name ‘Effie,’ who has since been identified as Efrosina Angelova (pictured left) 

Speaking at a press conference, Effie claimed that Hammer ‘repeatedly slammed her head against a wall’ during the incident, leaving her with bruises to her face 

Angelova said she  would be suing Hammer for allegedly raping her for in a four-hour long ‘violent’ incident in 2017. 

After nine months, the LAPD finished a probe into Angelova’s claim and sources close to the investigation told TMZ that the case against him ‘isn’t strong.’ The sources did not elaborate on the weaknesses in the case and whether they stem from insufficient evidence, a lack of witnesses or another cause all together. 

Hammer said that the incident was a ‘meticulously’ planned ‘scene’ of ‘consensual non consent.’   

‘This alleged rape was a scene that was her idea,’ Hammer said. ‘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, and we would engage in what is called a ‘consensual non-consent scene.’ 

He added: ‘Every single thing was discussed beforehand,’ he says. ‘I have never thrust this on someone unexpectedly. Never.’ 

Hammer said that his troubled personal life was due to a ‘very intense and extreme lifestyle. 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.’ 

Since his downfall, Hammer has begun work as a sober companion for a recovering addict, work he says he’s going to dive into further. 

 ‘I’m going to move in with him and live with him, get him on a healthy routine, get him into a good schedule of [recovery] meetings, take him to the gym, cook healthy food for him,’ he said. ‘It feels like my recovery has taken a turn from me being the one who needs help staying sober, to me being able to help others.’ 

Hammer’s troubles began when the Instagram account House of Effie started leaking disturbing messages, said to be sent by him between 2016 and February 2020, that include conversations about BDSM, in addition to numerous sexual references to cannibalistic acts and blood-sucking.

In one message, the actor allegedly writes to the woman: ‘I am 100% a cannibal. I want to eat you.’

‘F**k. That’s scary to admit,’ the message continues. ‘I’ve never admitted that before.’

Following the publicity from the disturbing message leaks, Hammer’s former partners Paige Lorenze and Courtney Vucekovich accused him of being physically and emotionally abusive while they were together.

Lorenze told Page Six that the actor had carved the letter ‘A’ into her pelvis to brand her and then sucked the blood that oozed out.

She also accused him of being emotionally manipulative and said he repeatedly spoke of ‘consuming her.’

After the allegations first began to mount in January, Hammer stepped down from a role in Jennifer Lopez’s film Shotgun Wedding and denied the allegations against him in a statement to the Daily Mail.

‘I’m not responding to these b******* 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,’ he said.

Hammer’s lawyer released a screenshot of a conversation he said between Angelova and the actor. The screenshot was released from Hammer’s team after Angelova’s press conference

A representative for the production said “Armie has requested to step away from the film and we support him in his decision.”

During a March press conference with her attorney Gloria Allred, Effie Angelova, 24, alleged: ‘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.’

According to Variety, Angelova said she thought Hammer was ‘going to kill’ her, and claimed he beat her feet during the alleged attack ‘so they would hurt’ and said she tried to leave ‘but he wouldn’t let’ her.

Angelova alleges she met Hammer on Facebook when she was 20, and admitted to falling in love with the actor, although she now believes she fell victim to ‘manipulation tactics’.

She claimed: ‘He would often test my devotion to him. He abused me mentally, emotionally and sexually.’

Shortly after, the LAPD confirmed it was investigating the actor after a ‘community member’ came forward with an attorney on February 3 2021 with a sexual assault claim.

Hammer separated from his wife of 10 years, Elizabeth Chambers, in June 2020 – six months before the HouseOfEffie account started sharing messages

However, Hammer has denied the allegations made against him, and his lawyer has provided screenshots of alleged text conversations between him and Angelova which seemingly suggest he told her they couldn’t pursue a relationship, though these are not verified.

In one message, Hammer allegedly told Angelova: ‘I am not going to be able to engage in you in that specific way right now. It never ends well. We can talk and be friends, but I can’t do that.’

The actor’s lawyer also said Hammer’s encounter with Angelova was ‘completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory’.

In a statement, the lawyer said: ‘Effie’s own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations. As recently as July 18, 2020, [she] sent graphic texts to Mr. Hammer telling him what she wanted him to do to her

‘Mr. Hammer responded, making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her.

‘It was never Mr. Hammer’s intention to embarrass or expose [Effie’s] fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference.

‘With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight. 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.’

Hammer’s wife Elizabeth Chambers filed for divorce in July 2020, and six months later he was in the eye of a frenzied storm – with allegations of affairs, cannibalism, sexual coercion and brutality.

The couple share two children: their daughter Harper, seven, and their son Ford, five. 

Hammer, 36, has not been heard from and rarely seen since a woman named Effie, 26, who has not given her name due to fears of retaliation and harassment, accused Hammer in 2021 of having ‘violently raped’ her

Armie Hammer, 35, and his former wife Elizabeth Chambers, 39, are seen in March 2018 at the Oscars

Hammer and Chambers are pictured with their children Harper and Ford in December 2019 

A series of texts Hammer sent to one of his accusers. It was anonymously shared in 2021 when he was first accused. It is unclear who he sent it to

A pair of texts Armie Hammer allegedly sent to Courtney Vucekovich were revealed in the documentary that disturbed the ex-girlfriend 

Messages he sent to women included conversations about extreme sexual bondage and disturbing cannibalistic urges.  

‘I want to eat you…I am 100% a cannibal,’ read one message, while others included troubling admissions of desires to eat a woman’s ribs and cut off her toes.

One woman accused him of rape. 

The LAPD has investigated and Hammer has never been charged, but the allegations proved to be catastrophic for Hammer’s career, and he was subsequently dropped by the talent agency WME, as well as by his personal publicist.

He was replaced in Jennifer Lopez’s new rom-com Shotgun Wedding by Josh Duhamel, and Miles Teller took over his role in the TV series The Offer, which dramatizes the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s classic film The Godfather. 

Although he was removed form those productions, Hammer had already finished filming the Kenneth Branagh-directed mystery Death On The Nile, which features an ensemble cast including Branagh, Gal Gadot, Annette Benning, Russell Brand and Rose Leslie, among others.

Viewers mocked a trailer for the film after it appeared to go out of its way to minimize the actor’s participation – though his brief appearances were still too much for many viewers. 

Hammer was also sued by American Express over an unpaid $67,000 credit card bill, but the case was dropped this week.

He is reportedly living in the Cayman Islands and selling time shares.

In September, Discovery+ released a three-part docu-series, House of Hammer, that detailed Hammer’s relationships and family dynasty. 

The series interviewed two of Hammer’s former girlfriends, Courtney Vucekovich and Julia Morrison, and members of the Hammer household.

The Hammer family’s dark history  is detailed in a recent Discovery+ docuseries titled ‘House of Hammer.’ The documentary claims the disgraced actor was obsessed with BDSM, forced a lap dance on a male assistant and drove drunk at 140mph through a residential area