Armie Hammer—who is currently facing allegations of physical abuse, grooming, and rape—checked himself into an in-patient facility for “drug, alcohol, and sex issues” last Monday, reports Vanity Fair. Hammer was dropped by his talent agency WME in early 2021 after disturbing leaked direct messages allegedly sent by the actor led to a number of young women coming forward to accuse Hammer of grooming them and subjecting them to horrifying physical abuse. One of the women, a 24-year-old named Effie, accused Hammer of violently raping her for “over four hours” during a 2017 encounter. Another, an ex-girlfriend of Hammer’s named Paige Lorenze, says the actor literally branded her near her vagina with the letter “A”.
Although a number of stories shared by Hammer’s associates and ex-girlfriends suggest that the actor might struggle with substance dependence, using his possible addiction as a means of obscuring his assault allegations is as transparent as it is repulsive. It’s unsurprising that, yet again, the entertainment industry is leaning on the tried and true technique of painting allegedly abusive men as the TRUE victims by hyper-fixating on their supposed demons, and silently implying that these allegations of intimate partner violence are simply a side effect of these other issues.
“Everyone looks at Armie thinking that he’s had some sort of privileged life—and that must mean there were no problems in his youth and everything was peachy keen,” a close friend of Hammer’s reportedly told Vanity Fair. “But that’s not necessarily the way things go. Just because you come from an upbringing where financial resources are plentiful doesn’t mean life isn’t without problems.”
What a blatant attempt to get us to feel bad for a grown adult man who comes from such a privileged background that his grandfather can literally be described as an “oil tycoon.” Once again: although it’s possible that Hammer has some significant trauma in his past, bringing that up only in response to accusations of physical abuse and sexual assault he’s currently facing is a disingenuous attempt at distraction. After all, it wasn’t just gossip about his family history or his possible struggles with addiction that led to Hammer dropping out of two movies and checking himself into a treatment facility—it was the allegations of violent physical assault against numerous women.
DISCUSSION
Here’s what addiction specialists say in response to Mel Gibson’s use of addiction to excuse his assholery:
“You can’t pour vodka on a turnip and have it say anti-Semitic remarks,” says Gary L. Malone, MD, an addiction psychiatrist and the medical director and chief of psychiatry at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
Drunk words and actions are sober thoughts. If you have a problem with alcohol and it affects your judgement so much that you can’t get your partner’s consent... don’t fuck drunk. Just like don’t drive if you have had so much to drink that you cannot safely drive your car. You alone are responsible for the choices you make when you choose to use something around other people that is so powerful it can seriously harm or kill them.
Like a car!
Or your own body!
Bodies kill and harm other people alll the fucking time.