Armie Hammer has responded for the first time to disturbing messages allegedly sent by the actor, which were leaked last week.
He said he could not leave his children alone for four months while filming Shotgun Wedding, with Jennifer Lopez. Earlier on Wednesday it was reported that he was pulling out of the film.
The Social Network star told TMZ: ‘I’m not responding to these b******* claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic.’
He added: ‘Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I’m grateful to them for that.’
A Wednesday report from PageSix claimed that the actor was already exiting the project, with production spokesperson saying: ‘Given the imminent start date of ‘Shotgun Wedding,’ Armie has requested to step away from the film and we support him in his decision.’
Meanwhile another report claimed that Lopez had also been considering dropping Hammer from the film.
Armie Hanmmer, 34, on Wednesday addressed the reports of his fetishes circulating online
Jennifer Lopez is reportedly set to drop actor Armie Hammer from her upcoming rom-com, Shotgun Wedding, after disturbing messages allegedly sent by the actor were leaked
‘Jennifer is very concerned about the movie now these stories have come out,’ a source has told The Sun.
A source expanded to The Sun: ‘There have been a lot of phone calls and meetings about if they can still make the movie with Armie as the romantic lead.
‘A lot of people have suggested quietly dropping him from the project and I think Jennifer could agree to it,’ the insider added.
‘She’s a producer on the movie – does she want to act with him and pretend to be in love with someone who’s been accused of texting those things?’
JLo, who is reportedly ‘horrified’ by the alleged messages, currently is cast as Hammer’s fiancee in the upcoming rom-com.
DailyMail.com has contacted reps for Lopez, who did not immediately respond to comment.
The news comes after a series of screenshots leaked over the weekend, purporting to show Hammer authoring a series of disturbing messages about rape fantasies, cannibalism, and ‘blood-sucking’ to a woman over a period of four years.
The controversy involving Hammer was first stirred up on Sunday when a series of screenshots showing graphic messages he’d allegedly penned to a woman were leaked by the anonymous, now-private Instagram account, House of Effie.
The alleged messages, said to be sent between October 2016 and February 2020, include conversations about BDSM, in addition to numerous sexual references to cannibalistic acts and ‘blood-sucking’.
‘Does she want to act with him and pretend to be in love’: JLo currently is cast as Hammer’s fiancee in the upcoming rom com
In one exchange, Hammer is seen to write: ‘I am 100% a cannibal. I want to eat you.’
‘F**k. That’s scary to admit,’ the message continues. ‘I’ve never admitted that before.’
The authenticity of the screenshots has not yet been verified, however the woman behind the House of Effie account shared new alleged correspondences with Hammer on Tuesday, in which he appeared to refer to her as his ‘slave’.
‘You just live to obey me and be my slave,’ a message purported to have been sent from Hammer’s official Instagram account reads.
‘I will own you. That’s my soul. My brain. My spirit. My body. Would you come and be my property till you die?’
The message continues: ‘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?’
The actor broke his silence on Wednesday to address the claims, which surfaced Sunday
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com on Tuesday, a close friend of Hammer’s estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers said the actor’s former spouse is ”shocked and sickened’ by the messages.
The two announced their 10-year marriage was over in July, as a source close to Chambers admitted she was aware of his infidelities, including being romantically involved with Rebecca co-star Lily James as DailyMail.com revealed last year, which led to their split.
But Hammer’s alleged extreme kinks are a ‘complete shock’ to the mother-of-two, with the friend adding: ‘Armie appears to be a monster.’
They said: ‘A lot of these women have reached out to Elizabeth and although she didn’t want to admit it to herself at first, she knows now they are speaking the truth.
‘Armie had a whole other side to him that she wasn’t aware of. Whether it was always there and he kept it hidden, or something happened that changed him completely, she doesn’t know.’
The insider claims that one of the women who contacted Chambers about her experience with Hammer was left so traumatized that she entered an ‘intense rehab and therapy program because of his emotional and maybe physical abuse.’
The way they were: Hammer was previously married to Elizabeth Chambers
They added: ‘He preyed upon her when she was coming out of a relationship. He made her feel very uncomfortable, the things he wanted to do made her very scared.’
The graphic Instagram DMs that Hammer allegedly penned to a woman included talk of rape fantasies, BDSM and cannibalism.
Though the messages are unverified, House of Effie attempted to prove their authenticity by sharing private photos alleged to be from Hammer.
One includes an undated photo that seems to be sent from Hammer’s official Instagram account where he grabs his neck, presumably to imitate choking himself.
Another photo is of a male’s hand splayed out across a script on a wooden table, and purports to have been sent from Hammer’s Instagram account in an undated message. Visible on the man’s ring finger is a small tattoo.
Notably, Hammer has a similar looking tattoo on his finger, having previously had Chambers’ initials inked on his ring finger shortly after they married in October 2010.
They also supplied voice messages, where a man purported to be Hammer describes his sexual fantasies and speaks about the messages in question.
House of Effie explained she initially shared a video that referenced her alleged affair with Hammer, prompting other women to come forward and their stories to go viral.
The user wrote: ‘Women approached me with their affair stories as we talked overwhelmed with grief for days and nights without sleeping or eating, with some ending up in the ER.
‘We collectively decided we have to speak out after how we were treated and seeing how the women in 2020 were being treated by him. We cannot allow more women to endure what we are going through in the future.’
The accuser claims the women that Hammer allegedly was having affairs with recently ‘united’ and were able to ‘piece together a five year timeline’ of his alleged activity.
They concluded that ‘when [Hammer] has a fight with his wife, he’d reach out to his kitten, and when they had a fight, the next day he would just reach out to his other kitten with the same message. Naturally all fights revolving around [Hammer’s] bad treatment of women.’
It’s unclear how many women are behind the allegations.
Upset: In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com on Tuesday, a close friend of Hammer’s estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers said the actor’s former spouse is ”shocked and sickened’ by the messages