Armie Hammer’s Family Secrets Uncovered in ‘House of Hammer’ Doc: Orgies, Murder, Spies and More

Credit: Hahn Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock

Armie Hammer's Family Secrets Uncovered in 'House of Hammer' Doc: Orgies, Murder, Spies and More

The darkest parts of an empire. The allegations against Armie Hammer are at the center of House of Hammer, an explosive new docuseries about the actor and his family. The Call Me by Your Name star, 36, is the great-grandson of Armand Hammer, a business magnate known for turning Occidental Petroleum into one of the biggest oil companies in the world. Rumors about the wealthy family have circulated for years, but the January 2021 sexual abuse allegations against Armie shed a new light on his relatives. “I honestly was not surprised or shocked,” Armie's aunt Casey Hammer exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Friday, September 2, premiere of the Discovery+ series. “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.” Casey is the sister of Armie's father, Michael Hammer, who worked as an executive at Occidental for years before his grandfather's death in 1990. The siblings are the children of Armand's only child, Julian Hammer. [sendtonews type="float" key="wzjoVYF1at-2831834-14453"] The Hammers are not as powerful in the business world as they once were, but they've left their mark all over Hollywood. Los Angeles is home to the Hammer Museum, founded by Armand in 1990, and the Armand Hammer Golf Course in Holmby Park. "Magnify Succession a million times and it was literally my family," Casey said in the docuseries, referring to the HBO drama about siblings vying for control of their father's media empire. "On the outside we were a perfect family, but beneath it all was a dark world of deceit, betrayal and corruption. And that's why I'm coming forward now. It's time to stop the cycle." While House of Hammer devotes nearly an entire episode to the scandals surrounding Armie, the show also highlights some of the darker aspects of the family's past. Armie's grandfather Julian, for example, killed a man in 1955 on the day of his 26th birthday. He was arrested, but according to journalist Edward Epstein, Armand bribed a lawyer with $50,000 to have the charges dropped. Casey previously discussed the murder and other aspects of her family's sordid history in her 2015 memoir, Surviving My Birthright, but she hopes House of Hammer will reach a larger audience — and eventually inspire change. "I'm hoping to move forward and change the meaning of the name," she told Us. "My grandfather's name is on everything. I would like to be able to turn that around ... and let women know that it's not OK. Men need to be held accountable." House of Hammer is now streaming on Discovery+. Keep scrolling for more revelations from House of Hammer:

Credit: Hahn Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock

Armie Hammer's Family Secrets Uncovered in 'House of Hammer' Doc: Orgies, Murder, Spies and More

The darkest parts of an empire. The allegations against Armie Hammer are at the center of House of Hammer, an explosive new docuseries about the actor and his family. The Call Me by Your Name star, 36, is the great-grandson of Armand Hammer, a business magnate known for turning Occidental Petroleum into one of the biggest oil companies in the world. Rumors about the wealthy family have circulated for years, but the January 2021 sexual abuse allegations against Armie shed a new light on his relatives. “I honestly was not surprised or shocked,” Armie's aunt Casey Hammer exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Friday, September 2, premiere of the Discovery+ series. “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.” Casey is the sister of Armie's father, Michael Hammer, who worked as an executive at Occidental for years before his grandfather's death in 1990. The siblings are the children of Armand's only child, Julian Hammer. [sendtonews type="float" key="wzjoVYF1at-2831834-14453"] The Hammers are not as powerful in the business world as they once were, but they've left their mark all over Hollywood. Los Angeles is home to the Hammer Museum, founded by Armand in 1990, and the Armand Hammer Golf Course in Holmby Park. "Magnify Succession a million times and it was literally my family," Casey said in the docuseries, referring to the HBO drama about siblings vying for control of their father's media empire. "On the outside we were a perfect family, but beneath it all was a dark world of deceit, betrayal and corruption. And that's why I'm coming forward now. It's time to stop the cycle." While House of Hammer devotes nearly an entire episode to the scandals surrounding Armie, the show also highlights some of the darker aspects of the family's past. Armie's grandfather Julian, for example, killed a man in 1955 on the day of his 26th birthday. He was arrested, but according to journalist Edward Epstein, Armand bribed a lawyer with $50,000 to have the charges dropped. Casey previously discussed the murder and other aspects of her family's sordid history in her 2015 memoir, Surviving My Birthright, but she hopes House of Hammer will reach a larger audience — and eventually inspire change. "I'm hoping to move forward and change the meaning of the name," she told Us. "My grandfather's name is on everything. I would like to be able to turn that around ... and let women know that it's not OK. Men need to be held accountable." House of Hammer is now streaming on Discovery+. Keep scrolling for more revelations from House of Hammer:

Credit: Discovery+/YouTube

Courtney Vucekovich's Allegations

Armie publicly announced his split from wife Elizabeth Chambers in July 2020, but multiple women have alleged that he carried on affairs with them before the breakup. Vucekovich, for her part, claimed that she had a relationship with the Social Network star from late 2019 to September 2020. When they met, Armie allegedly told her that he and Chambers, 40, had been separated for nearly two years. "I believed it because he would send me text messages and call me every day. Constant communication," Vucekovich claimed. "[From] the second he woke up to [when] we'd fall asleep on the phone together. And immediately he was just sharing all these things with me. Intimate details about his parents, family secrets."

In July 2020, Vucekovich was on vacation in New York when Armie allegedly texted her to say he was outside her apartment building in Dallas. "At this point, we've never spent time together," she recalled. "So, it was weird. I remember being like, 'Are we flirting, or is this scary?'" When she returned home, she found a note allegedly written by Armie that read: "I'm going to bite the f–k out of you."

One month later, Vucekovich agreed to meet Armie in person for the first time. During that trip, he allegedly showed her the movie Secretary, which is about a woman's submissive relationship with her boss, and took her to Tractor Supply to look at ropes. The store was sold out, but Vucekovich was still unsettled by something that supposedly happened later. "The situation that happened was something I didn't, I think it's something you speak about before it's done," she recalled. "And we didn't speak about this. It was something that has never been done to me. It is something that's very degrading, very belittling, and I just don't, I don't like to, I don't want to put it out there."

Vucekovich tried to end the relationship after Armie was spotted with Rumer Willis in September 2020, but the Mirror Mirror actor allegedly convinced her to give him another chance. "I would have, like, hand marks that would stay on my body," she claimed. "He bites really hard and he tells you to wear them like a badge of honor."  

The duo went on another trip together, and this time, Vucekovich alleged that Armie finally asked to tie her up. "He told me he's only ever tied up mannequins, never people," she claimed. The Flashd founder demurred, telling him that she didn't feel well, but she claims that he tied her up anyway. "The ropes were around your neck, your wrists, your ankles, behind your back," Vucekovich alleged. "I had bruises, I hated it. ... It didn't feel safe. I didn't feel loved. It was horrible. And you're, like, completely immobilized."

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An Attempt to Uncover the Truth

Seth Abramovitch, who profiled Armie for The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, claimed that he asked the actor about his BDSM interests during their interview, but the Gossip Girl alum wouldn't address the rumors. "There was one thing that repeatedly came up when I talked to people and told them I was profiling him, and it was about that he had a sort of edgy interest in BDSM sex," the journalist recalled. "I did bring it up and he shut me down pretty decisively. He said he has less of a comment than even if he had no comment."

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The Alleged DMs

Julia Morrison claimed that Armie began DMing her via Instagram in March 2020, during the same period he was communicating with Vucekovich. "Once the sexual nature of the DMs started, it was all that he ever wanted to talk about," the artist claimed, adding that their conversation started because Armie was allegedly interested in a photo series she'd done that showed her being choked.

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Life With Julian

Casey claimed that her mother, Glenna, left Julian after repeated instances of domestic abuse, and after the pair divorced, Michael lived with his father while Casey stayed with her mother. Julian's father, Armand, allegedly told Glenna that he would "ruin" her if she ever left Julian — and Casey claims that he did. "My father ended up only paying, like, $200 per month in child support," the author alleged.

Visits to her father's house — the same one where she grew up — were not comforting. "It was a lot of drinking, a lot of smoke-filled rooms," Casey recalled. "A lot of drugs. He always had, like, 16- or 17-year-old girls around. ... He called them his 'housekeepers.' It was code for his girlfriends. I believe it was sexual in a sense, where they were usually sitting on each other's laps or kissing or fondling each other. It was almost like giant orgies. Michael, my brother, would bring his friends up to party, and they would hit on [the girls] as well. The drugs were free-flowing, so it was a very free atmosphere."

An unnamed family friend added: "As you walk in, there was a big bowl of cocaine and a very kind of 'help yourself' attitude."

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Armand's Methods of Control

Armand claimed that he and his second wife, Angela Zevely, split because she was an alcoholic, but in her divorce papers, she alleged that their breakup was the result of abuse. "I fear my husband," she wrote. "He is a master of psychological warfare."

During his third marriage to Frances Barrett, Armand had an affair with a woman named Martha Kaufman. After Frances found out about it, Armand allegedly had Kaufman change her name and wear a wig so they could continue their relationship without Frances being the wiser. According to Epstein, Armand also had a tracking device placed on Kaufman's car and bugged her phone.  

Casey, for her part, alleged that Armand maintained dossiers on his family members and their acquaintances. "We were taught that big brother's always watching," she claimed. "You can't get away from it. My grandfather had files on anybody you dated or any of your friends. You would pick up your phone to talk to someone and you would hear a click, and you knew you were being recorded."

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A Major Coverup

In 1995, Julian killed a man after they allegedly got into a fight over a gambling debt. After Armand allegedly bribed a lawyer to drop the charges, Julian went to work for his father, but his job wasn't a standard office gig. "Julian eventually began doing things for his father, illegal things like helping his father surreptitiously record conversations," Epstein claimed.

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Russian Ties

Armand's father, Julius Hammer, immigrated to the United States from Russia before Armand was born. After the move, however, Julius remained an ardent supporter of Vladimir Lenin and the Communist Party. He allegedly used his money and connections in New York City to fund Communist Party activities in the U.S. and collect trade secrets for the Soviet Union. In House of Hammer, Joseph Finder further alleged that Armand carried on his father's activities after Julius died. "Armand Hammer became an agent of his father's company," Finder claimed. "He was a money launderer, he was a courier for funds that were channeled to Soviet espionage in the United States. It was secret, it was illegal, it was dangerous."

If you or someone you know have been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

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Paige Lorenze's Claims

The "Paige by Paige" podcast host didn't appear in the docuseries, but her allegations were revisited via clips from a YouTube video she originally posted in February 2021. "He said he wanted to find a doctor in Los Angeles to remove both my ribs," she claimed. "He wanted to eat my ribs. He wanted to smoke them. He was obsessed with meat. I brushed it off, but I do believe that he was serious." Lorenze also alleged that Armie carved the letter "A" onto her body.

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Alleged Workplace Misconduct

An unnamed former employee of Armie's claimed that the actor once asked him to pick up his friend at the airport and hold a sign reading, "F–t." The employee expressed hesitancy, at which point Armie allegedly mocked him in front of other coworkers. "If I said no to him about something, he'd try and find ways to shame me," the employee claimed. "And this time he took a poll from everybody: 'Should I fire him because he won't do what I told him to do?'"

The employee also claimed that he witnessed Armie driving 140 miles per hour through residential neighborhoods while inebriated.

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Casey's Childhood

In the final episode of House of Hammer, Casey alleged that her father, Julian, sexually abused her. "Things happened to me that shouldn't have ever happened to a child," she said. "I don't know if I'll ever be normal." Near the end of Julian's life, Casey moved in with him. As he deteriorated, she claimed he would point a gun at her head and say he needed to check if she was possessed.