The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office is currently reviewing claims of sexual assault made against actor Armie Hammer. While the spokesperson for the district attorney did not reveal the identity of the complainant or complainants, it is known that Hammer has been under investigation for sexual assault since February 2021, after a woman accused him of raping her in 2017.
Hammer has not been charged in the case and has denied any wrongdoing, stating through his attorney that the allegation was "outrageous" and that his interactions with the woman and other partners were "completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory."
However, in March 2021, Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred introduced her 24-year-old client, identified only as Effie, who claimed she was raped by Hammer. Effie said she had an on-and-off romantic and intimate relationship with Hammer from 2016 to 2020, and accused him of violently raping her for over four hours in Los Angeles on April 24, 2017. She also accused him of committing acts of violence against her, to which she did not consent, such as allegedly beating her feet with a crop. Effie stated that it hurt for her to walk for the next week.
The allegations against Hammer have been brought back into the spotlight due to a recent Discovery+ docuseries called "House of Hammer." In an interview with Air Mail in February, Hammer admitted to having a "very intense and extreme lifestyle" and said he would "scoop up these women, bring them into it - into this whirlwind of travel and sex and drugs and big emotions flying around - and then as soon as I was done, I'd just drop them off and move on to the next woman, leaving that woman feeling abandoned or used."
Effie's case is still under investigation, and it remains to be seen if the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office will press charges against Hammer. However, the fact that these allegations are being taken seriously and investigated thoroughly is a step in the right direction for holding those in power accountable for their actions.