Armie Hammer has again denied claims that he is a cannibal and said his actions were “not illegal” after facing allegations of sexual assault.
Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast, the 38-year-old Call Me By Your Name actor spoke candidly about allegations of rape made by a woman in Los Angeles in 2021.
He also addressed leaked messages that detailed disturbing and violent sexual fantasies including cannibalism and rape.
Asked directly by Theroux “are you a cannibal?” Hammer replied: “You know what you have to do to actually be a cannibal? You have to actually eat human flesh. So no.”
The father-of-two has always vehemently denied all allegations against him, and, in the latest interview, said the accusations led to him losing his work, access to his children and professional representation.
Prosecutors decided not to charge the actor over the allegations in 2023, citing “insufficient evidence”.
“I think the most important context to give these kinds of things is they are one side of a conversation,” Hammer said, talking about the leaked messages.
“As you’ll notice of all the text messages that were released, the person who released them, their side was cut out of the entire conversation.”
‘I was a dick, but that’s not illegal’
Addressing a specific claim that he had eaten the organ of a living animal – a reference to one of the leaked messages – Hammer recalled taking a singular bite out of an animal’s heart during a hunting trip.
“One of the traditions is you take a bite out of the heart, and you’ve got all your buddies around you. They’re goading you on,” the actor said.
“It’s sort of like almost overly charged male rite of passage when you go hunting for your first time.
“Everyone that I know who went hunting for their first time had to do something similar.”
He went on to say that he left a lot of people “angry” for his behaviour, but he did nothing that was illegal.
“I’m very, I’m very quick to admit that I was selfish and inconsiderate and an asshole and a cad and I used people to make me feel better,” he said.
“I left a lot of people in that wake very angry at me for my behaviour, which by the way, was asshole behaviour.
“Does it make me a dick? Absolutely. I have no problem admitting that I was a dick, but that’s not illegal, you know?”
Following the allegations, Hammer stepped down from a film role opposite Jennifer Lopez and took to selling timeshares in the Cayman Islands, which he told Theroux he “loved”.
“I was at the point of my life where things were so bleak that having anything to do felt amazing,” he said.
“I was also the gardener for a school at one point. In the Cayman Islands, I helped manage an apartment building and I sold timeshares and honestly, I was having the time of my life.”
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Ending the podcast Hammer said he has “moved through” the allegations.
Admitting that working on himself is still a “daily process” he added: “I get that on things like this [the podcast], that stuff needs to come up, but I’m just very happy to report that that’s not a part of my life anymore.”
