After weeks of speculation and social media stories in January and early February, Armie Hammer was dropped by his agents at WME and his publicist quit that bitch. It was notable for so many reasons, including the fact that even some truly garbage people still have Hollywood representation, so just how awful is Armie? We soon learned just how bad it was – in addition to verbalizing his cannibalistic urges and cheating on his wife constantly, Armie physically, emotionally and financially abused a series of women. About two weeks ago, one woman (who goes by “Effie”) came forward with her lawyer, Gloria Allred, and accused Armie of brutally raping her a few years back. The LAPD has now opened an investigation.
Throughout all of the chaos of the past three months, Armie has not only lost his representation, he’s also lost out on movie and TV projects. He got to announce that he was “dropping out” of some of the stuff, but other times, producers let it be known that they were pushing him out. That’s what’s happened this week:
Armie Hammer has been dropped from another film, in the wake of sexual assault allegations and continuous online chatter that has been spiraling across social media since the beginning of the year. Hammer is no longer attached to the thriller “Billion Dollar Spy,” Variety has learned exclusively. Hammer was set to star opposite Mads Mikkelsen in the Cold War drama that comes from filmmaker Amma Asante.
Representatives for Asante and Walden Media, the film company behind the movie, declined to comment any further.
“Billion Dollar Spy” was the one last remaining film on Hammer’s slate, meaning every studio that was in business with Hammer, prior to the allegations, has now officially cut ties with the actor. All other upcoming projects in which Hammer will appear on-screen had already wrapped production, prior to the allegations.
The only outstanding movie on Hammer’s radar would have been the potential “Call Me By Your Name” sequel, which has garnered much hopeful excitement from fans, but was never actually put into active development and remains without a script. While the actors and filmmaker have discussed their desire for a sequel in many media interviews, the film had never been given the greenlight — and now, with the Hammer controversy, any plans are even more up in the air. (Director Luca Guadagnino was not available for comment, as he is currently in pre-production on another film.)
I know people were really pumped for a CMBYN sequel but that sh-t is dead in the water now, at least it is if Armie is still attached in any way. Plus, the first film is beautiful and amazing – it doesn’t need a sequel. Or if you really need a sequel, just do Elio’s story as he’s banging his way through Paris or something (I would watch that). As for Billion Dollar Spy… what took producers so long to drop Armie? YIKES.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Wondering if Branagh will pull a Kevin Spacey/Christopher Plummer with “Death on the Nile” and who he would cast? 🤔
That’s an interesting point.
Would people refuse to see the film if AH isn’t removed? When he was cast and the film made, we didn’t know about his crimes. But AH’s face might trigger some people. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
The movie has just pushed back a year (which they can conveniently blame on the pandemic but ummm…) so they will be trying to figure out what to do. Or they are doing a “wait and see”.
Another complication is that as I understand it many of his scenes are with Gal Gadot, who is now pregnant. So if they were going to reshoot they would have to hide that too or wait until she has her baby and find some time after that. Basically an expensive mess because of Hammer being cast in a role dozens of other actors could have played. Kenneth Branagh and the studio must be livid. But make no mistake, they want to save their franchise.
*Spoilers* If this adaptation is faithful to Agatha Christie, the title ‘Death’ means their scenes together don’t continue too long.
Ah. Haven’t read this one. 😏 So maybe a reshoot could be done quickly. They’ll just have to find a handsome thirty or forty-something actor who can hold their own with Gal Gadot. So they will have to…throw a rock?
(Sorry bad joke, I’m bitchy today). But all kidding aside he would not be hard to replace.
Kevin/Christopher’s role was a supporting one; Armie’s is the lead guy. Probably way too expensive to CGI or reshoot. *SPOILER* He’s in the story way longer than Gal Gadot’s character is.
Find Me, the follow up to CMBYN, is NOT supposed to be a very good book and the two men aren’t supposed to have very much interaction in it. Which actually sounds great now! But it bummed people out when the book was released.
I read Find Me and I enjoyed it but it was good rather than great. It is more like 3 or 4 separate short stories than one cohesive narrative. For example, the first story (and to me, the least successful because it’s such a cliche) follows the now-divorced father. It is true that the book doesn’t focus entirely on Elio and Oliver together, however, it does include stories/chapters that focus on these characters separately. I won’t spoil any more of the book.
I imagine the reason he’s just now been fired was probably a legal or financial one.
Stories about him are so disturbing and horrifying. My guess is that people who work with him have heard directly from some of the victims, or have heard stories about him long before this, so that’s why they are cutting ties so strongly, while other garbage people still have work.
I find this so interesting because there have been any number of actors who’ve had similar accusations thrown at them over the course of many, many years (e.g. Spacey, Depp, LaBeouf), as well as directors (e.g. Allen, Polanski, Singer), and producers (e.g. Weinstein), and they’re still working despite being supremely obnoxious and unprofessional on set, and people are still prepared to work with them (except Weinstein, obvs). So why is Armie Hammer not getting the same benefit of the doubt from the Hollywood bottom-feeders? It can’t be the rape or violence or even the fact that his films don’t make huge money because he’s been in a lot of critically acclaimed Oscar-nominated stuff, so I guess it must be the cannibalism? His peers must actually believe the cannibalism accusations. I know someone who knows him, and while they don’t believe the allegations, they do admit that AH is a very strange man and people find him off-putting, so perhaps the fact that he’s strange and off-putting legitimises the cannibalism?
Or maybe he is not “talented enough” ? I don’t know, it seems the only defense Polanski or Allen get is about their talent.
My guess is, rather than “talent,” he’s never been proven to be a box office draw – nothing he’s been in has been especially profitable or franchise-able – so studios don’t feel it’s worth it to keep casting him. Depp & the others habe been tied to massive financial hits, and that’s all Hollywood really cares about.
I think it really is that he was never any great talent in the first place. Like, he was fillable, and good in some cases (I’m loathe to admit that he did a good job in “The the Man from UNCLE”), but there was never anyone hotly anticipating his next move.
Those other creeps and asshats were, unfortunately, considered to be excellent at their jobs. I don’t understand why, in some cases (I’ve never found Allen’s work particularly enthralling and will never “get” why he’s considered a genius), but jerks like Weinstein actually did get their jobs done while being massive…well, you know. So some people picked which devils to dance with.
Hammer is a reasonably attractive white dude with family money who hit on a few lucky roles, and he pinged lots of people’s creep factor even before the accusations started rolling in. He was easily sloughed aside.
Okay, I know this is a really disturbing story, but for some reason I’m laughing at “I guess it must be the cannibalism?” Like that’s the line too far for Hollywood.
My guess is partly what I said above -that people know there is truth to these allegations, and partly what Mango said – he’s just not that great a talent and he’s replaceable. I assume he is at any rate, I dont think I’ve ever seen his movies. He’s reasonably attractive, but there are lots of reasonably attractive white men in Hollywood who can act reasonably well. And he’s not that big a star yet. IIRC, Woody Allen’s creepiness with Soon-Yi didnt come out until he was already a well established director, right? (I dont like his films but for whatever reason other people do.) Harvey Weinstein’s predatory nature has been known for years, but he was also someone who made a lot of money and his movies won Oscars, so people were willing to “overlook” his actions.
Hammer doesnt have that protection yet (and the fact that some do have that protection is gross as we all know.)
I’ve thought this too. There are so many scumbags in Hollywood who get to keep their jobs, you have to wonder what’s different about Hammer. But I agree with what the others are saying; he’s just not that great of an actor. I never liked him in anything I saw him in, he has no presence or real talent. I do sorta wonder if more will come out about him, though.
Allen was a well established, successful director, comedian, and actor when the Soon-Yi stuff and later the allegations from Dylan Farrow happened. He had been making well-received movies since the early 70s, and his films had won two Best Picture awards, I think (“Annie Hall” and “Hannah And Her Sisters”). Also, while he is obviously a creep in his personal life and was known to portray creepy behavior on film, I don’t think he was ever accused of being inappropriate with his female actors or difficult to work for in general. He would begin a relationship with a woman and THEN cast her, I think, as with Diane Keaton and then Mia Farrow. I’m not sure if he cast Keaton before or after they started dating, but in both cases they had long-term working and personal relationships. He’s still working, but his career has taken a massive hit because of his behavior.
It could be the “offputting” part. Much like Armie is history, so is Weinstein and people were lined up to enjoy his fall because they absolutely hated him so much.
Meanwhile, every single other person you mentioned has supporters because they in some part are likeable towards some people- Spacey, Depp, LaBeouf, Allen, Polanski, Singer, all have actual friends and are well-liked by them despite their disgusting deeds. For instance I know people who’ve worked with Spacey, I’ve heard is so “nice” when you meet him, a little eccentric but gracious and thoughtful and yet a monster hides beneath. Which is exactly why some people don’t believe some of these people are actual monsters.
No one likes Armie, no one likes Harvey.
The acts described are more heinous than the other people you mentioned. Not one time, it’s been happening for years. He wanted it to be non-consensual, over and over and over again with each woman. Non-consensual is r@pe, it’s just that he started by love bombing them. One was beaten with a crop for so long she couldn’t walk. One was tied up naked in some kind of knotted leather, non-consensual, and left for 6 hours and he took photos of her that he shared with other guys. Many passed out. Some women post photos of their wounds. He was proud to have “ruined” beautiful vanilla girls who never wanted to go that far. One recent one went to the hospital to recover from the PTSD. My son in college says it simply, “he is a sick f*ck that should be jailed and never let out.”
replying to “jane”… to me, the cannibalism stuff is a non-starter. the press fixates on it because they know basic b***h, conventional american whitebread lower middle class, low-information people will find it SO shocking; it’s a *fantasy* about wanting to “consume” the other in order to become one with the other. it’s similar to the “slavery” stuff in a way, and is not at all uncommon in that scene!
to me, what is problematic is the rape/ignoring of “no” and safewords, and he should ABSOLUTELY have to take responsibility for that and not badmouth the victims!
good, now the only time I want to see his crazy psycho eyes, is when he is charged and prosecuted.
I first saw Call my by your name in a small theater in Rome, Italy. I loved it so much. But now I can’t even look at the film because he’s in it. But I would love a sequel with Elio in Paris!!
Agreed! Elio humping his way and falling in love throughout Paris and Europe would be a sequel worth seeing. I absolutely loved CMBYN. My favourite movie of the last decade and now AH has ruined it for me. So a AH free sequel would delight me and hopefully allow me to love it again
It is interesting they waited so long to cut him, I wonder if they were waiting to see if it would blow over. Glad it hasn’t.
I was always so put off by the age difference in CMBYN I’ve never watched it. Don’t know if I ever will now.
I’ll be happy when he’s charged and behind bars. I feel no real loss at no longer seeing him on TV or films like I did with Kevin Spacey. He wasn’t an extraordinary talent, and won’t be missed.
I do have questions as someone above said why they are cutting him, but other actors are still getting work. Definitely not weeping for him.
it really irritates me that the first response to a great movie is SEQUEL. Some things are just stand alone great and don’t need sequels. It’s such a cash grab it grosses me out. CMBYN is NOT a sequel movie in my opinion. Die Hard? Sure. Not CMBYN
I think the reason he got dropped was because he had a finsta where he admitted heavy drug use, among other questionable behaviors (lying! on a drug test! to see his kids!). Add to that he was not talented, his costars hated him, he brought his affairs to meet his agent and directors, and finally leaving his wife and kids in the middle of the pandemic, he just wasn’t worth sticking up for anymore. It’s sad but I believe the r*pe and cannibalism charges, plus the carving of his initial in several women, were the very least of what got him dropped. Since the women he dated said he was always broke, what do you want to bet he wasn’t paying his publicist or someone else properly and/or the movie contracts invoked a nonpayment clause for unethical behavior, and so his team said eff it, this mess isn’t worth it in 2021.
Yes, the whole combination of things. His official exes were out there telling stories about how weird he was, not just the kinky stuff. Turned him into a kind of joke. So publicity wise, he’d been turned into Armie Cannibal Hammer.
Two, the police investigation launched early Feb, which wasn’t publicised but his agents prob knew about quickly (maybe his contract with them required disclosure), which meant no rep.
Three, his own videos on FINSTA evidencing his own reckless drug use and sleaziness (there was a sex worker on his bed). Probably goes to both image and insurability.
Finally, he was never charismatic, a great actor/talent, or a big viewership draw. So he hasn’t been treated the same as Woody Allen, etc. He has no huge critical success to insulate him somewhat.
Disgusting Mel Gibson was welcomed back to a million projects, so I no longer think anyone is ever out for good. I mean, there were TAPES for god’s sake, and people are still like, “Oh, he’s in ‘Daddy’s Home 2’? Fun!” It’s so gross.
He can blame it on alcohol though, can’t he? Isn’t that why? Also he’d been a huge success box office wise and critically with films like Braveheart (directing). Not defending him; he’s likely a hideous person but just trying to understand why he was never cancelled in the same way.
I know lots of other actors have only been temporarily canceled, but it feels like in 2021, with such hard evidence of extreme violence toward women – plus his blatant arrogance and sabotaging his own career on social media… he might be toast.
I feel like he is a generic handsome mannequin—he is replaceable, so maybe that’s why this has bombed his career.
Bye bye dude! Good riddance.
This is the plus side of the age of information.
So I saw the documentary recently Made You Look on Neflix which is about the longest art forgery con in American history at the Knoedler Gallery, which was owned by Michael Hammer, ARMIE HAMMER’S FATHER. It was purchased by Armie’s great-grandfather in the 1970s and eventually his father Michael Hammer inherited it. When I watched it the first time, I didn’t realize at first Michael Hammer was his father until they mentioned the great-grandfather Armand who Armie is named after. The documentary isn’t really about Michael Hammer since the con involved mostly fooling the art dealer Ann Freedman, but he was sued by one of the customers who bought one of the forged paintings so they do mention the trial and such.
And then I remembered all these stories about how Armie came from old money and that there is a long line of scandalous stories with all the men in that family. I finally read the Vanity Fair article detailing the sordid Hammer family scandals and omg. I hope Elizabeth Chambers stays away from Armie’s family, she’s apparently been living with her father-in-law Michael in the Caymans. Her children need to be kept far away from their father and grandfather, especially the son. It’s like the men in that family are all doomed to turn out to be psychopaths. Armie is never mentioned in Made You Look because he had no involvement with the gallery whatsoever or the forgery con but I found it curious they didn’t even mention “owned by Michael Hammer, actor Armie Hammer’s father.”
That’s a shame. Oh well…consequences, right?
A sequel for CMBYN shouldn’t have even been in consideration. Is everyone going to just ignore that the author of that novel pretty much outed himself as being sexually attracted to young girls ( ages 12/13)/ uses his writing as an outlet for fantasies?
If Hollywood was serious about predators they would stop supporting them across the board/letting them hide behind ‘art’. I am glad to have never watched CMBYN or gotten caught up in the romanticism of such relationships. I hope that more people stop supporting the author because too many people were willing to say he didn’t mean his comments in ‘that way’.
i could see a sequel with elio f*****g his way through europe without oliver during the AIDS epidemic. is it necessary? no! but timothée chalamet and the character of elio (as well as michael stuhlbarg and amira casar) are compelling enough i’d absolutely be there for it.
as for armie…? i can still watch and adore his scenes in CMBYN. it’s the best, rawest work he ever did. as for his personal life? if he did what he’s been accused of doing, may the chips fall where they may. he needs to learn a major lesson about respect for women and white male privilege!! 😖 (no matter how kinky your sex is, no means no and gaslighting exists!!)