Shocking! Armie Hammer Finds Cannibalism Allegations Hilarious, Expresses Gratitude!

Armie Hammer, in a moment of self-reflection, humorously discussed the accusations of cannibalism that emerged during the downward spiral of his career, following a barrage of sexual misconduct allegations.

On Sunday, the lead actor from “Call Me By Your Name” spoke about his precipitous fall, some of the outlandish claims he was subjected to, and how the current “content and well-adjusted” version of himself is thankful for everything that has transpired. He shared how the last 3½ years of challenging lessons about acceptance and managing his issues without causing further “damage” had transformed his life. Hammer confessed that his time away from Hollywood due to these allegations helped him become sober, work on his personal growth, repair his relationship with his sick father, and build a stronger bond with his children. He lost shared custody of his children during the sexual scandal and his 2020 divorce from Elizabeth Chambers.

“People were spouting some really unbelievable stuff about me, like me being a cannibal. Now I can look back at it, maintain some distance, and laugh at the absurdity,” Hammer, 37, said on his friend Tyler Ramsey’s “Painful Lessons” podcast. “People accused me of being a cannibal and everyone believed it. They were like, yup, he devours human flesh. It was so bizarre.”

However, the actor, known for his roles in “The Social Network” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” expressed that he is “appreciative of every single part of it.”

“I am now at a point where I am truly thankful for it because where I was prior to all that stuff, I wasn’t feeling good about myself. I was never content. I was never fulfilled. I was never comfortable with myself or had self-esteem. I didn’t know how to love or validate myself. But I had a job where I received constant validation from others, so I never learned how to do it for myself.”

Hammer revealed that whenever he was feeling down about himself, he would check Instagram comments on his selfie and that would uplift him. Some of the allegations — including claimed text messages or voice notes describing fantasies about drinking blood, sexual dominance and cannibalism — were posted on the social media platform, which eventually led to a rape accusation and claims that he forced others to engage in extreme sexual acts. (Hammer has consistently denied any nonconsensual sexual activity, and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced last year that it would not file charges against him.)

“Regardless of the level of compliments or admiration people showered me with, as soon as it entered my sphere, it was like a black hole where everything just vanished. Nothing stuck and I didn’t feel good about myself,” Hammer shared on the podcast. “But I had this faucet that I could turn on to receive all of this. When that faucet dried up, it didn’t just dry up, it started spewing hate on a global level — it was a crisis, a spiritual crisis, an emotional crisis.”

Ultimately, the actor said he came to understand that he had two options: to let the hate consume him, or he could learn from it. He admitted hitting rock bottom and seeking help for his addictions.

“In my case, there was ego death, career death. I experienced all these deaths. That’s part of what [author] Joseph Campbell called the hero’s journey. The hero must die so the hero can be reborn,” Hammer said.

“The way I was living my life before, I was burning the candle at both ends and there are only a few ways for that story to end. I’m truly thankful that it was like a neutron bomb detonated in my life. It wiped out all the people who I thought were my friends that weren’t. All those people were gone in an instant. But the buildings are still standing. I’m still here. I still have my health and I’m truly thankful for that,” he explained.

Hammer admitted that he felt resentment and anger during that time but realized, through his personal work, that “those emotions weren’t going to serve me in any positive way.”

“Whatever was said, whatever transpired, whoever was involved, they were all, in a broader cosmic sense, part of the lessons I had to learn. Instead of harboring resentment toward these individuals, perhaps there’s a way I can be grateful for it,” he said.

The actor, who confessed that he contemplated suicide during the ordeal, went to rehab in 2021 amid the sex scandal.

“There were many moments when I thought, I can’t bear this anymore. This is too much, this stress is more than any human being should have to deal with. I was receiving hate before I learned how to love myself. So it just went right in. There was a time when I swam out really far into the ocean and just laid there, a half-hearted suicide attempt. But I realized I couldn’t do that to my kids, so I swam back. This was right when I had gotten sober,” he added. “I had to accept that sometimes you’re just going to feel like crap.”

Hammer sought help from a dual diagnosis treatment center that addressed his lifelong addiction issues. The center, which he didn’t name, also helped him understand the emotional and psychological aspects of his “multiple addictive behaviors,” particularly his “maladaptive coping mechanisms,” why he has them, and the “core wound” that led to them.

Hammer revealed that the root cause of his addictive behaviors was the sexual abuse he experienced as a child and certain aspects of his upbringing.

“Everything in my life fell apart in retrospect. I lost all my representation, all my work, everything. At the time I thought this was the worst thing that could ever happen to me,” he said.

Looking back and from a much healthier standpoint, Hammer said that he was able to use his hiatus from the film and TV industry to spend quality time with his children and take care of his father, businessman Michael Armand Hammer, who passed away from brain cancer in November 2022.

“I was able to care for him during the last year of his life. I changed his diapers, cooked meals for him, took him to doctor’s appointments, and was there for my father as a son should be,” the actor said. “If I had been working during those 3 ½ years like I was before, I would have been absent for 10 months a year. I would have missed the entire thing. Instead, I got to be there with my dad until he cognitively declined to the point that we couldn’t do this anymore.

“I would have never done that if I was still working. I was too self-centered,” he said. “That one year did so much to mend our relationship in so many different ways. When he passed, there was of course sadness, but there was no regret about how I spent that time.”

Hammer acknowledged that his once-flourishing acting career is virtually non-existent now but said he is hoping to return to the industry by creating his “own playground” and writing a screenplay.