The American actor Armie Hammer has alleged he was sexually abused as a teenager and considered taking his own life in the aftermath of allegations made against him.
The 36-year-old's career has been in freefall since the 2021 emergence of a series of damaging accusations over explicit messages he allegedly sent on social media and an allegation of rape by a woman in Los Angeles.
Hammer, who has vehemently denied all criminal allegations and entered rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abuse in May 2021, claimed he would not undo the past two years.
In his first interview since the allegations were made, he told digital newsletter Air Mail: "I'm now grateful for everything that's happened to me. I'm now a healthier, happier, more balanced person. I'm able to be there for my kids in a way I never was.
"I'm truly grateful for my life and my recovery and everything. I would not go back and undo everything that's happened to me."
The Call Me By Your Name star later said: "I had a very intense and extreme lifestyle.
"I would scoop up these women, bring them into it, into this whirlwind of travel and sex and drugs and big emotions flying around, and then as soon as I was done, I'd just drop them off and move on to the next woman, leaving that woman feeling abandoned or used.
"I'm here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an a******, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on. And treated people more poorly than they should have been treated."
During the interview, Hammer alleged he was sexually abused as a 13-year-old for a period lasting nearly a year.
Following the initial allegation controversy in 2021, Hammer stepped down from his starring role opposite Jennifer Lopez in the comedy film Shotgun Wedding. He was replaced by Miles Teller in the TV series The Offer, a drama about the making of The Godfather.
"My financial status is I am not only broke, I am massively in debt," he said.
Hammer said after being "completely cancelled and blackballed", he attempted to take his own life while quarantining in the Cayman Islands in February 2021.
Last summer, Hammer explored the possibility of selling timeshares in the Cayman Islands, visiting the office of a resort where his friend worked and watched him pitch to customers.
He said: "Someone took a video of it, sent it to TMZ, and it blew up. I ended up getting sucked into an immigration investigation because I didn't have a work permit, even though I wasn't on salary, I wasn't making money, I wasn't on payroll.
"What can I do? It's, like, you don't want me to act, but then you're not going to let me have a normal life, either?"
In September, a three-part Discovery+ series titled House of Hammer, produced by Hammer's aunt Casey Hammer, showed on-camera interviews with two of Hammer's alleged victims in which they detailed some of their alleged abuse.
Hammer previously played the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network and starred opposite Timothée Chalamet in the acclaimed drama Call Me By Your Name.
He married US TV personality Elizabeth Chambers in May 2010 and the pair share two children. They announced their separation in 2020.
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Source: Press Association
