Over the past two months, allegations of sexual misconduct against Armie Hammer have made tabloid headlines and raised serious concerns about the actor’s treatment of women.
Throughout the early stages of this scandal anonymous insiders claimed that as appaling as the first accusations might have been, the worst was yet to come.
Now, it appears that the other shoe has dropped.
At a press conference held in Los Angeles this afternoon, a woman identified only as “Effie” told reporters that Hammer brutally raped her in 2017.
“On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles,” said Effie, who was accompamied by famed attorney Gloria Allred.
The alleged victim did not give her full name, but identified herself as a “24-year-old woman who lives in Europe.”
Effie went on to say that Hammer “committed other acts of violence against me, to which I did not consent.”
This apparently included beating the woman’s feet with a riding crop.
“During those four hours, I tried to get away but he wouldn’t let me. I thought he was going to kill me. Then [he] left with no concern for my well-being,” said Effie.
“He abused me mentally, emotionally and sexually,” she added.
Effie says she met Hammer over Facebook in 2016, when she was just 20 years old.
She told reporters that over the next four years, she and Hammer were involved in and on-and-off sexual relationship.
Speaking of the trauma that she experienced as resut of Hammer’s alleged attack she said:
“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.
“In speaking out today, I hope to keep others from falling victim to him in the future.”
“Even if a sexual partner agrees to sexual activities, she has the right at any point to withdraw her consent,” Allred added to Effie’s comments.
Hammer has not personally responded to these latest allegations, but his lawyer, Andrew Brettler, denied the charges on the actor’s behalf.
According to Brettler, Effie’s “own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations.”
“As recently as July 18, 2020, [Effie] sent graphic texts to Mr. Hammer telling him what she wanted him to do to her. Mr. Hammer responded making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her,” Brettler said.
Brettler shared the contents of one such message with The Hollywood Reporter, but the outlet has not published it out of concern for Effie’s privacy.
“I challenge Armie Hammer to present all, not some, of his communications with Effie to the Los Angeles Police Department and answer all of their questions directly rather than through his lawyers,” Allred said in a statement issued in response to Brettler’s claims.
Several women have come forward with allegations against Hammer which range from physical and psychological abuse to sharing explicit photos on social media without their consent.
The first accusations — which contain details about Hammer’s cannibalism fetish — were posted by an Instagram account with the handle @houseofeffie.
Allred did not respond to questions about the possibility of a connection between the account and the Effie who spoke at today’s press conference.
At press time, no criminal charges have been filed against Hammer.
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.