Armie Hammer is being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department over allegations of sexual assault that were brought to the authorities last month.
The news came after a woman held a press conference on Thursday during which she accused the 34-year-old actor of rape and other abuse during an on-and-off relationship from 2016 to 2020. The actor has denied the allegations.
The LAPD said Hammer is “the main suspect in an alleged sexual assault investigation that was initiated Feb. 3 of this year,” according to a Fox 11 report.
The woman who held the press conference in Los Angeles, identified as Effie Angelova, told reporters that Hammer raped her for four hours in April 2017 in Los Angeles. Angelova, who is 24 and living in Europe, said the Call Me By Your Name star repeatedly slapped her head against a wall, causing bruises, and committed other acts of violence against her.
“During those four hours, I tried to get away, but he wouldn’t let me,” she alleged. “I thought that he was going to kill me. He then left with no concern for my well-being.”
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Angelova alleged she met Hammer through Facebook when she was 20 years old. She is now 24 years old and living in Europe, according to Fox 11 of Los Angeles.
Angelova said she hopes speaking out now will help hold Hammer accountable and said she considered taking her own life due to the trauma caused by Hammer.
“He’s abused and traumatized me to the point where, for months, I wasn’t able to stop crying. I couldn’t sleep, or I’d have night terrors. I was constantly emotionally distressed, and I lost interest in living. I couldn’t comprehend or overcome what he had done to me,” she said.
Hammer has denied the allegations, which his attorney described as being “outrageous.”
Hammer’s representatives also claim that Angelova’s own correspondence with Hammer contradicts her allegations, which suggests she had fetishes and sexual desires she expressed through graphic texts sent to Hammer.
“From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with Ms. Angelova — and every other sexual partner of his for that matter — have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory,” a statement from Hammer’s representatives reads. “Ms. Angelova’s attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.”
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Angelova is being represented by famed lawyer Gloria Allred, best known for taking on cases related to women’s rights, who said even if most of the couple’s sexual encounters were consensual, not all of them were.
“Even if a sexual partner agrees to certain sexual activities, she has the right at any time to withdraw her consent,” Allred said.
