Content warning: The following contains discussions of and some descriptions of sexual violence and rape.
A woman known as Effie has accused actor Armie Hammer of violent sexual assault. Effie, who is 24 and lives in Europe, is choosing to protect her privacy by not sharing her full name, and spoke at a Thursday press conference with her attorney Gloria Allred. Effie’s horrifying allegations followed months of speculation and rumors about alleged abuse and sexual violence perpetrated by Hammer.
Effie says that she met Hammer in 2016 when she was 20 years old (Hammer would have been 29 or 30 at this time) over Facebook. They began an on-again-off-again relationship where she says that “he abused me mentally, emotionally and sexually.” As we have seen in other high-profile recent cases of abuse and rape allegations, it would appear that the abuser in the case quickly drew his victim into his orbit with a skewed power dynamic.
Effie says that Hammer became increasingly violent as the relationship continued. Lawyer Gloria Allred explained: “Often, famous men select vulnerable women, particularly some of their fans, to use and abuse. Celebrities often make that choice because they may feel that they can more easily use the power of their celebrity to seduce and manipulate fans who admire or idolize them,” Allred said. “They may also count on the fear that many women have of speaking out against a celebrity.”
Effie alleges that “On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles.” Effie says that he slammed her head against a wall, causing bruises, and also whipped her feet with a riding crop, and “committed other acts of violence against me, to which I did not consent.” She continued, “During those four hours, I tried to get away but he wouldn’t let me. I thought he was going to kill me. Then [he] left with no concern for my well-being.”
As the Evening Standard reports:
“I tried so hard to justify his actions, even to the point of responding to him in a way that did not reflect my true feelings. During and since this attack, I have lived in fear of him. And for a long time I tried to dismiss his actions towards me as a twisted form of love.”
She said she was left suicidal by the alleged rape and felt “immense guilt” at not speaking out sooner.
After the press conference, the LAPD said it had opened an investigation.
Hammer’s attorney Andrew Brettler denied Effie’s claims, maintaining the relationship was entirely consensual. Brettler’s statement, which per The Hollywood Reporter gave Effie’s full name (that the publication did not publish), also attempted to victim-blame the allegations away by sharing texts between his client and Effie that he says “undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations” and claims that the texts would exonerate Hammer. Brettler contends that “Mr. Hammer responded making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her.”
This is irrelevant however to what Effie has alleged. As Allred explained at the press conference: “Even if a sexual partner agrees to certain sexual activity, she still has a right at any point to withdraw her consent. If she does withdraw her consent…he is legally and morally obligated to stop. If he does not stop, he is then at risk of committing a crime against her.”
Allred says her client has contacted others who have also been abused by Hammer and is speaking out now as a warning to women. Allred would not confirm if her client was the same person behind the since-locked HouseOfEffie Instagram which, in January, shared screenshots of text conversations between Hammer (purportedly) and multiple women where Hammer made many violent and disturbing statements that seemed to go far beyond consensual kink. “If I wanted to cut off one of your toes and keep it with me in my pocket so I always had a piece of you in my possession?” one message read. Following those messages becoming public, other women and ex-girlfriends have come forward with further allegations of Hammer’s abusive and violent behavior.
Since the initial allegations emerged, Hammer has lost several acting roles and been dropped by his agents and publicist, but until now, it does not appear the police had him under investigation. Effie and Allred have provided evidence of the alleged rape and abuse to law enforcement, and Allred said that the matter was in their hands: “It is for law enforcement and the prosecutor to decide if there is sufficient evidence.” L.A. police confirmed to NBC News on Thursday that an investigation has been opened.
(via The Hollywood Reporter, images: Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb)
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