One family member’s perspective. Armie Hammer‘s aunt Casey Hammer weighed in on the accusations against her nephew — and made it clear she wants justice for his alleged victims.
“I honestly was not surprised or shocked,” the Surviving My Birthright author exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, August 30, ahead of the premiere of the Discovery+ docuseries House of Hammer. “Based on how I grew up, I was exposed to horrific crimes and experiences that were covered up because it was behind closed doors and we couldn’t talk about it.”
When the sexual abuse allegations about her nephew, 36, began surfacing in early 2021, Casey said she believed it was simply par for the course.
“I thought, ‘Oh, here we go. Another Hammer man,’” she told Us. “What upset me was the fact that they were focusing on Armie and cannibalism and his career. [But] what about the victims that he’s left in his path? Whether it’s physical, mental or any kind of abuse, it takes a toll on you. And you need to know that there’s others out there like you who are experiencing the same thing, and there is hope.”
Casey is the sister of Armie’s father, Michael Hammer, and they are both grandchildren of Armand Hammer, a business magnate who died in 1990. House of Hammer is set to explore the scandals surrounding Armie as well as the legacy of the rest of the family.
For her part, Casey has been speaking out against her family for years, self-publishing Surviving My Birthright in 2015.
“When my nephew imploded on social media last year … it shined a light on the family and something I had been living with for 61 years and talking about, and no one necessarily wanted to listen or believe,” she claimed. “I wanted to be more of a positive advocate for victims and kind of help share my story. When I first wrote the book seven years ago, it was something I did … for myself because I couldn’t make sense of how I lived all this trauma.”
House of Hammer will feature interviews with women who alleged that the Call Me by Your Name star expressed an interest in cannibalism, among other things, during their relationships. “In the beginning, I felt like this was all perfect; this was amazing,” Courtney Vucekovich recalled in a trailer for the series. “But then things changed. He pushes your boundaries a little bit at a time. You’re his, completely. … I mean, he said, ‘I‘m 100 percent a cannibal.’ I [was] freaking out.”
After multiple women came forward with similar stories in 2021, the Social Network actor described the alleged victims’ accusations as “bulls–t claims.” Later that year, he checked into rehab for reported drug, alcohol and sex issues. In December 2021, his lawyer confirmed to Us that Armie had left the facility but didn’t specify the date he checked out.
Several months before the allegations surfaced, the California native and wife Elizabeth Chambers split after 10 years of marriage. “Thirteen years as best friends, soulmates, partners and then parents,” the estranged pair — who share daughter Harper, 7, and son Ford, 5 — wrote in a joint statement in July 2020. “It has been an incredible journey, but together, we’ve decided to turn the page and move on from our marriage.”
Armie has stayed relatively quiet since leaving rehab, but his aunt hopes that the docuseries helps Armie’s alleged victims get justice. “Anybody that commits crimes and involves other people and hurts them needs to be held accountable,” she told Us. “I would hope that by shining a light [on it] that the justice system takes care of it however it sees fit.”
House of Hammer premieres on Discovery+ Friday, September 2.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
