Timothée Chalamet addresses cannibalism allegations against Armie Hammer

18 October, 2023

Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer

Timothée Chalamet has spoken out for the first time about the allegations facing his Call Me By Your Name co-star Armie Hammer.

The pair co-starred in Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 romance about a boy (Chalamet) who falls in love with his father’s graduate student assistant (Hammer) while on holiday in Italy.

In 2021, Hammer was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women and rape by one woman. Hammer denied any criminal wrongdoing, but did admit that he had “one million per cent” emotionally abused two women, who had accused him of sexual misconduct. In both relationships he had with those women, he said that “the power dynamics were off”.

Hammer was also accused of expressing a fetish for cannibalism to a number of women via text.

In a new interview with GQ, Chalamet was asked about the timing of the allegations, which coincided with his filming of Guadagnino’s cannibal love story Bones And All.

“I mean, what were the chances that we’re developing this thing?” Chalamet said.

On seeing reports suggesting that the film was inspired by Hammer, he added: “It made me feel like: ‘Now I’ve really got to do this.’ Because this is actually based on a book.”

Asked for his own personal thoughts on the allegations, Chalamet replied: “I don’t know. These things end up getting clickbaited so intensely. Disorienting is a good word.”

Armie Hammer. CREDIT: Vera Anderson/WireImage

In light of the accusations, Hammer was subsequently dropped by his agent and publicist and exited multiple projects, including Lionsgate comedy Shotgun Wedding and Godfather mini-series The Offer. He was later dropped from Billion Dollar Spy.

In February this year, the actor gave his first interview since facing the allegations and put his behaviour down to “being an asshole”, adding: “I’m here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an asshole, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on.

“I’m now a healthier, happier, more balanced person. I’m able to be there for my kids in a way I never was…I’m truly grateful for my life and my recovery and everything. I would not go back and undo everything that’s happened to me.”

He also recalled attempting suicide in the wake of the allegations while in the Cayman Islands in February 2021. “I just walked out into the ocean and swam out as far as I could and hoped that either I drowned, or was hit by a boat, or eaten by a shark,” he said. “Then I realized that my kids were still on shore, and that I couldn’t do that to my kids.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Hammer said that he was drawn to the world of BDSM because of the sexual abuse he had experienced at a younger age.

A three-part documentary series, House of Hammer, aired last year, which explored the accusations of sexual abuse against the actor.

For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.

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