One of the women who first came forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Armie Hammer has accused the actor of “violently” raping and assaulting her during an April 2017 encounter that the Los Angeles Police Department is now investigating.
At a press conference Thursday, the woman named “Effie” — also the name of the person who runs the @houseofeffie Instagram account that allegedly revealed Hammer’s sexual fantasies — shared her experience with Hammer and the abuse she suffered during a four-year affair that took place between 2016 and 2020.
Effie’s lawyer Gloria Allred said her client came forward publicly to deny Hammer’s previous statement that his sexual relationships were “completely consensual in that they were fully discussed, agreed upon and mutually participatory,” and that Effie would not pursue a civil case against the actor, the Wrap reported.
Effie is also cooperating with the LAPD on a sexual assault investigation that was opened in February. “We can confirm that Armie Hammer is the named suspect in an alleged sexual assault investigation, initiated on February 3, 2021,” an LAPD spokesperson tells Rolling Stone.
During the press conference, the now-24-year-old Effie admitted to having an on-and-off affair with Hammer during a four-year period — “He abused me mentally, emotionally and sexually,” Effie claimed of the relationship — and focused on an April 24th, 2017 incident in Los Angeles where she says the actor “violently raped” her, “repeatedly” slammed her head against the wall and committed other “violent acts” over the course of four hours.
“During those four hours, I tried to get away but he wouldn’t let me. I thought that he was going to kill me. He then left with no concern for my well-being,” Effie said at the press conference. “I was completely in shock and couldn’t believe someone I loved did that to me. I tried so hard to justify his actions, even to the point of responding to him in a way that did not reflect my true feelings.”
While Allred did not confirm at the press conference that her client “Effie” was also behind the @houseofeffie account, it was previously revealed in a Vanity Fair article about Hammer’s fall that Allred was representing the woman who operated that Instagram account.
“Now that he no longer has any power over me, I have come to understand that the immense mental hold he held over me was incredibly damaging on many levels,” Effie said Thursday. “His abuse traumatized me to the point where, for months, I was unable to stop crying. I couldn’t sleep or I’d have night terrors. I was constantly emotionally distressed, and I lost interest in living.
Soon after the press conference, Hammer’s lawyer Andrew Brettler issued a statement denying the accusations and stating that his client had evidence — through text messages and social media exchanges — that “undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations.”
“From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with [Effie] — and every other sexual partner of his for that matter — have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory,” Brettler said.
“It was never Mr. Hammer’s intention to embarrass or expose [Effie]’s fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference. With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight… [Effie]’s attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.”
“I feel immense guilt for not speaking out sooner, because I feel that I might have been able to save others from becoming victims,” Effie said Thursday. “By speaking out today. I hope to prevent others from falling victim to him in the future. I want other survivors of sexual assault around the world to feel empowered and know that they are heard, believed, understood, and loved.”
Following the initial House of Effie posts in January, Hammer dropped out of both a TV series about the making of The Godfather and the Jennifer Lopez-starring romcom Shotgun Wedding.
The unverified text messages detail lurid sexual fantasies, including acts of cannibalism. Following his exit from Shotgun Wedding, Hammer issued a statement, “I’m not responding to these bullshit claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic.”