On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that it would not be filing sexual-assault charges against actor Armie Hammer, putting an end to a more than two-year-long ordeal that featured harrowing accusations of violent rape, B.D.S.M., and cannibalistic fetishism.
Hammer’s seemingly charmed life came crashing down in 2021 when a woman identified in the media only as “Effie” alleged that he had violently raped her four years earlier. Simultaneously, several other women emerged to accuse Hammer of sexual misconduct. Hammer was fired from every film, television, and theater project he was working on and dropped by his talent agency, and he withdrew from public life. From the beginning, he denied any legal wrongdoing.
In a statement, the D.A.’s Office said, “Prosecutors conducted an extremely thorough review, but determined that at this time, there is insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Hammer with a crime. As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.... Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Hammer reacted to the announcement on his Instagram account, his first public statement since granting an exclusive interview to Air Mail earlier this year. “I am very grateful to the District Attorney for conducting a thorough investigation and coming to the conclusion that I have stood by this entire time, that no crime was committed. I look forward to beginning what will be a long, difficult process of putting my life back together now that my name is cleared.”
James Kirchick is a Writer at Large at AIR MAIL and the author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington
