Police start rape allegation probe against Armie Hammer

LOS ANGELES (AFP): Los Angeles police said Thursday they had opened an investigation into rape allegations made against US actor Armie Hammer after a former partner filed a complaint.

The 24-year-old woman detailed her accusations Thursday morning during a virtual press conference with her lawyer, women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred. 

The alleged victim said Hammer — who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his starring role in 2017’s “Call Me by Your Name” — “violently raped” her for “over four hours” in 2017. She added that the 34-year-old actor, whom she had met over Facebook the year before, also “repeatedly slammed” her head against the wall and beat her feet with a riding crop to the point where she was unable to walk.

The woman recounted the way she said she was “mentally, emotionally and sexually” abused by Hammer over the course of their four-year on-off relationship. 

LA police did not specify whether their investigation was looking at her complaint or allegations made by someone else. 

Hammer denied the allegations through his lawyer Andrew Brettler, who said last month his client had only ever had “completely consensual” sexual relationships. 

Brettler in a statement said that the 24-year-old alleged victim had sent his client a text message in July 2020 containing explicit sexual requests, which he claimed casts doubt on her claims.  The lawyer has already denied en masse accusations from other women of violent and sadistic sexual acts by Hammer. 

The actor’s agency cut ties with him last month as the allegations circulated on social media. Hammer has also recently left several film projects, according to trade publications, including a movie starring Jennifer Lopez called “Shotgun Wedding.”