Armie Hammer, the embattled actor who was accused of sexual abuse in early 2021, is the focus of a forthcoming Discovery+ docuseries, which also delves into his family history.
The three-part series, “House of Hammer,” investigates accusations against Hammer — which he has emphatically and repeatedly denied through lawyers — including messages that he allegedly sent to women about his cannibalistic fantasies and sexual fetishes, which his accusers say were abusive.
An explosive trailer, released on Wednesday by Discovery, includes two of Hammer’s alleged victims giving on-camera interviews and sharing screenshots of messages and audio of voice memos they claim to have received from the actor.
“I have a fantasy about having someone prove their love and devotion and tying them up in a public place at night and making their body free use,” one alleged message from Hammer says.
Hammer is also alleged to have said in a voice memo, which is played in the trailer, “My bet was going to involve showing up at your place and completely tying you up and incapacitating you and being able to do whatever I wanted to every single hole in your body until I was done with you.”
The docuseries also shows a message in which Hammer allegedly wrote to a woman he is “100% a cannibal,” and a handwritten note that reads, “I am going to bite the fuck out of you.”
The doc was produced in tandem with Casey Hammer, who is Armie Hammer’s aunt and granddaughter of Armand Hammer, the businessman who made the family fortune in the oil business. Casey Hammer signed a deal prior to the project being shopped around town, before it ultimately landed at Discovery’s streaming service. She officially served as a consultant, alongside directors Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs.
“I’m about to reveal the dark, twisted secrets of the Hammer family,” Casey Hammer says in the trailer.
Armie Hammer’s recent headline-grabbing controversy is not the only one to plague the notable family. In 1920, the actor’s great-great grandfather, Julius Hammer, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter after a jury found him guilty when the wife of a Russian diplomat to whom he gave an abortion died. In 1955, Julian Hammer, the son of Armand Hammer, killed a man inside his Los Angeles home over a gambling debt, but claimed self defense and the charges were dismissed.
In 2015, Casey Hammer self published a book, “Surviving My Birthright,” in which she alleged that her father, Julian, sexually abused her when she was a child.
As for Hammer, the actor’s fall from grace came during the pandemic when alleged messages he had sent to women surfaced on social media and then escalated into a continuous media story. He was first accused of sexual abuse in early 2021 through screenshots of messages in which he allegedly described his cannibalistic fetishes. One woman, who is represented by attorney Gloria Allred, accused Hammer of rape, prompting the LAPD to conduct an investigation.
Hammer has strongly denied all allegations of sexual abuse, stating that all interactions with the women were consensual. At the time of the rape allegation, Hammer’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, said in a statement to Variety, “From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions” with every sexual partner “have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory.”
The allegations caused Hammer’s Hollywood career to nosedive with the actor dropped from his agency, WME, after being cut from a series of projects, including Jennifer Lopez’s romantic comedy, “Shotgun Wedding;” the thriller “Billion Dollar Spy;” the Broadway play, “The Minutes;” and the Paramount Plus series “The Offer” about the making of “The Godfather.” Hammer, who rose to fame with “The Social Network” and “Call Me By Your Name,” was most recently seen in Disney’s “Death on the Nile,” which he wrapped prior to the scandal.
With no projects on the horizon, he was spotted earlier this summer selling timeshares at a resort in the Cayman Islands where he has been residing close to his estranged wife and two young children for much of the pandemic. A source has told Variety that Hammer had completed a stay in rehab. Last month, Vanity Fair, which previously published an exposé on the Hammer family, reported that Robert Downey Jr., who has been through recovery himself, has been supporting Hammer and paid for his six-months in rehab. (At the time, a rep for Downey Jr. did not respond to Variety, regarding that report.)
In a statement, a Discovery exec teases “disturbing details” and “sinister secrets” that will come forth in the docuseries.
“The accusations of rape and abuse brought against Armie Hammer in the last few years are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Hammer family,” said Jason Sarlanis, president of crime and investigative content, linear and streaming. “With ‘House of Hammer,’ we witness truly disturbing details and sinister secrets that money and power couldn’t hide forever. This documentary provides an important platform for the incredibly courageous women who came forward to share their stories, and we hope their courage inspires others to continue meaningful conversations around abuse in our society.”
“House of Hammer” premieres on Discovery+ on Sept. 2.
Watch the full trailer below:
From Variety US