Armie Hammer Leaves Next Film After Troubling Social Media Controversy

Armie Hammer will be recast in the upcoming romantic comedy Shotgun Wedding in the wake of the actor’s brewing social media controversy. Hammer, who has been accused of writing graphic, sexually explicit DMs to women that include fantasies about cannibalism, confirmed he was leaving the film in a statement to Variety, breaking his silence on the troubling claims.

“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,” Hammer said. “Lionsgate is supporting me in this, and I’m grateful to them for that.”

A representative for the production told the outlet that “Armie has requested to step away from the film, and we support him in his decision.” Hammer has two children with TV personality Elizabeth Chambers. The pair announced their separation in July 2020.

Shotgun Wedding, which sold to Amazon in December, is a romantic comedy costarring Jennifer Lopez. Production was slated to begin early this year.

For days now, Hammer has been mired in a snowballing controversy after alleged DMs the actor wrote leaked online. The messages allegedly show Hammer describing explicit sexual fantasies that extend to cannibalism. “I am 100% a cannibal,” he allegedly wrote in one message to a woman. “I need to drink your blood,” he supposedly wrote in another. Screenshots of the DMs were originally published by an Instagram account called House of Effie. The account, run by an anonymous user, has continued sharing screenshots featuring more purported messages from Hammer, who allegedly also fantasized about cutting a woman into pieces and eating her.

Hammer is best known for his roles in films like The Social Network and Call Me by Your Name. He was also one of many actors circling the titular role of Batman for Matt Reeves’s upcoming superhero movie, a role that ultimately went to Robert Pattinson. He still has a slew of projects lined up, including the upcoming series The Offer, about the making of The Godfather.

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