Armie Hammer explains how accusations of cannibalism boosted self-esteem: ‘Very grateful’

Armie Hammer spoke about the accusations of cannibalism that led to the interruption of his Hollywood career. In a podcast interview Painful Lessons (via Variety), he stated that he is grateful for what happened.

“People called me a cannibal, and everyone believed them. They’re like, ‘Yeah, this guy eats people,'” he said with a laugh. “What? What are you talking about? Do you know what you have to do to be a cannibal? You have to eat people! How would I be a cannibal? It was bizarre.”

“Even in the discrepancies, in whatever people said, in whatever happened, I’m now at a point in my life where I’m grateful for every bit of it,” the actor admitted.

He further added that he “never knew” how to “give love” or “self-validate” before the accusations, because he “had a job where he got that from a lot of people.”

In fact, now I’m really grateful for that, because where I was in my life before all these things happened to me, I didn’t feel good. I never felt satisfied, I never had enough. I’ve never been in a place where I was happy with myself — where I had self-esteem.

“It’s almost as if a neutron bomb had exploded in my life,” he added. “It killed me, it killed my ego, it killed all the people around me who I thought were my friends and who weren’t — all those people, in the blink of an eye, were gone.”

“I’m still here, I’m still healthy and I’m very grateful for that,” he said, before revealing that his acting career is “nowhere” but he is working on a script with a friend.

The case

Armie Hammer divorced from Elizabeth Chambers six months before allegations of sexual abuse and violent sexual fantasies became public in January 2021. That year, an Instagram account called House of Effie shared a series of allegations against Hammer, including rape, physical abuse and fetishes involving cannibalism.

A Peoplethe actor’s lawyer, Andrew Brettlerdenied the allegations and stated that the relationship between Hammer with Effiewhose real name was not revealed, was “completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance.”

Oliver’s interpreter in Call Me By Your Name (2017), left projects such as Armed Marriage (2022), The Offer (2022) and the Broadway show The Minutes.