Armie Hammer was once poised to be one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Then, in early 2021, multiple women accused him of sexual and emotional abuse, coercion and violence. The details of the claims were shocking and disturbing: there were screenshots of alleged DMs from Hammer discussing rape and cannibalistic fantasies, and women reported being groomed and branded by him. Hammer — who had divorced his wife of 10 years, Elizabeth Chambers, the previous July — denied the accusations, but the damage was done. He was fired from several high-profile projects and dropped by his talent agency. He retreated to the Cayman Islands and spent time in a rehab facility for drug, alcohol and sex issues.
Five years later, Hammer is making his return to the big screen. In December, he starred in the Western Frontier Crucible, playing an outlaw alongside William H. Macy. He has two other movies in the works, and told Your Mom’s House podcast hosts Christina Pazsitzky and Tom Segura in January 2025 that he’s been “turning down roles.” Some say the 39-year-old actor, who’s now sober, has done his time in celebrity purgatory and deserves a second chance. “Armie has apologized privately to everyone he’s hurt and continues to take responsibility for unhealthy and harmful behaviors,” a source tells Us Weekly of the father of two (he and Chambers share daughter Harper, 11, and son Ford, 9). “He’s focused on coparenting and rebuilding his career humbly.”
Others still have their doubts about a comeback. On his podcast, The Armie Hammertime (which he launched in October 2024 and is now on hiatus), Hammer shared several provocative views, including admitting that he “loved marijuana roofie-ing people.” And in Frontier Crucible, his character sexually assaults a woman — an odd choice to kick off his showbiz return. “You cannot say, ‘I understand the harm [I’ve done]’ and then reenter the conversation by reenacting it,” says PR expert Mark Borkowski. “It’s tone-deaf, bordering on self-sabotage.” An insider tells Us Hammer understands “the sensitivity and why people might question the optics,” noting that the role required serious reflection and “wasn’t chosen lightly. He was just really eager to work again and get back to what he loves doing, acting.”
There’s no question that Hammer’s life has changed dramatically since the allegations surfaced. He sold timeshares while he was in the Cayman Islands, and, upon returning to L.A., revealed he had to get rid of his beloved truck because it was too expensive to fill with gas. During his appearance on , he referenced his “tiny-ass apartment” — a stark departure from the seven-bedroom, $5 million mansion he and Chambers previously shared. (He’s since moved into a 4,000-square-foot house in Hollywood.)
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Entertainment One
The first source says he’s embraced a more “humble” life. (Hammer’s great-grandfather Armand Hammer was a billionaire oil tycoon; in 2024, the actor said he prefers to work for his own money because “anything that you take always has strings.”) Says a third source: “Armie does not live a luxurious life by any means. [His finances] have been an ongoing struggle but he knows he’ll make money again soon. His mom wanted to help him get a new car recently, and he refused her help.”
He’s on good terms with Chambers. “They’ve settled into their new normal,” says a source close to the Bird Bakery founder. A second source close to Chambers says the exes are working through things individually and as a family unit. “When it comes to Armie, Elizabeth wants to have a united front [for] the kids,” notes the source. “They’re protecting the kids as they grow up in the spotlight, especially as Armie’s career ramps up again.” (The source also notes Chambers is no longer dating real estate investor Preston Landes.) “[Elizabeth] doesn’t necessarily forgive Armie’s actions,” adds the first source close to Chambers, “but she doesn’t focus on the negative anymore.”
Armie Hammer is no stranger to controversy and backlash, having raised eyebrows for his questionable behavior and comments as far back as the early days of his career. The actor came under fire in January 2021 after multiple women took to social media to share screenshots of graphic direct messages that he had allegedly sent […]
The first source says Hammer takes his kids to school every morning and travels to his daughter’s volleyball tournaments on weekends. “He grew up with a great father and wants to be the same for his kids.” Adds the Chambers source, “[Armie] still feels like he [has] a scarlet letter attached to his name and is working hard to change his reputation. He wants to make the kids proud and has been putting in work to turn his life around.” Another source close to Hammer says the actor was dating, but it didn’t work out: “It was very healthy, they just wanted different things at this stage of life.” (Armie could not be reached for comment.)
For months in early 2021, Hammer dominated headlines. Model and influencer Paige Lorenze, who dated him briefly in 2020, claimed Hammer told her he wanted to eat her ribs and that he carved the letter “A” into her skin. (“It was more like a scrape,” Hammer told Piers Morgan in 2024, noting that Lorenze had consented to him using a small knife to trace his initial on her body.) App developer Courtney Vucekovich told Page Six he said he wanted to break her rib “and barbecue and eat it,” adding, “He captivates you… [while] he’s grooming you for things that are darker and heavier.”
Courtesy of Elizabeth Chambers/Instagram
Effie Angelova (who initially posted DMs from Hammer under an anonymous account on Instagram called House of Effie) accused him of raping and beating her in 2017 (the LAPD said it could not prove the allegations and declined to press charges). Angelova tells Us she remains “crippled by the trauma disorders Armie’s continuous abuse caused me,” and that she intends to sue the actor.
“I’ve known this guy for a decade. He’s not a cannibal,” attorney Kent Schaffer, a longtime friend of Hammer’s, tells Us. In Schaffer’s opinion, the actor succumbed to the pitfalls of celebrity. “Along the way, as you become more and more famous, all these people who are chasing clout are going to latch onto you, and he had girls just throwing themselves at him, and he just couldn’t say no. And that ended up being his downfall,” explains Schaffer. “As unhappy as he may have been with Elizabeth, and as unhappy as she may have been with him, careerwise, he would’ve been a lot better off if he just learned how to deal with his unhappiness. Unfortunately, men and women, when they become famous, sometimes put themselves in a position where bad s*** can happen to them.”
Hammer has reflected on his past behavior in interviews and on his podcast, acknowledging during his appearance on Your Mom’s House that he would love-bomb women, then dump them abruptly. “I would scoop these girls up, take them on a whirlwind month and a half, [go on] road trips… have great sex… then I’m gonna bounce and go do it with someone else,” he revealed, adding, “There are aspects of my behavior that I think were coming from maybe not the healthiest place.”
Chase Buttice, a spiritual coach who appeared on Hammer’s podcast, tells Us the actor has done intensive shadow work — a therapeutic practice of uncovering and healing darker parts of the personality. “His shadow came to light,” she says, adding that the star “has owned up to his addictions and his issues” and is “reconciling all these parts of himself, but he’s doing it honestly and vulnerably. You can’t have a level of public humiliation like that and not really change.” Adds the first source: “Years of therapy forced Armie to confront patterns, trauma and blind spots. He’s learned empathy.”
Hammer is happy to be working again. “Acting is Armie’s passion, so it’s been making him feel good,” says the first source. “His goal is to work on meaningful stories that challenge him. It feels like coming home, but with a humility and gratitude he didn’t have before. He believes he can reach new heights in terms of how he performs. Opportunities are coming in, and being able to be selective is something he doesn’t take for granted.”
Well Go USA Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection
Uwe Boll, who directed Hammer in the upcoming film Citizen Vigilante (he also plays a dark character in the action movie), says he advised Hammer to pause his podcast to focus on his acting. “I basically told him, I feel it’s not helping him to be spending three hours every three days interviewing people,” shares Boll. “I told him, ‘You don’t want to be Tucker Carlson, you want to be an actor!’ If you have absolutely nothing going on, sure, do a podcast. But if you are making movies, you should focus on it.”
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
Boll says that Hammer still has star quality. “I’ve worked with some big actors like Ben Kingsley, and Oscar-winning actors like J.K. Simmons, but they don’t have that star thing where you dominate the screen, like a Tom Cruise. [Armie] can do this,” says Boll, adding that Hammer was a team player. “I felt like after four years, it was time to give him another chance. He’s a great actor, he’s so talented, and it was so much fun to work with him.”
John Bevilacqua, the writer and director of the upcoming neo-noir Night Driver, in which Hammer portrays a vet with PTSD, shares a similar sentiment. “He was someone who was very considerate of the other cast, the actors, and the crew… and I’ve worked with talent who barely even acknowledge you,” Bevilacqua says, adding that there’s a lot of buzz around his comeback. “We were having coffee in West Hollywood, and people were coming up to him about The Social Network and Call Me by Your Name and The Lone Ranger. He’s incredibly gracious, and there is goodwill for him.”
He’ll have to be strategic about what he does next. “Will he ever be where he once was? Probably not,” says Borkowski, “but Hollywood doesn’t need you to be spotless — just useful.” The first source says Hammer doesn’t feel “entitled” to forgiveness: “His focus is on taking responsibility, continuing the work and earning trust through consistent actions over time, regardless of the outcome.” The insider adds that Hammer still struggles with daily life challenges, “like any other human being,” but is committed to his recovery path and “just being a positive person in others’ lives.”
