Editor's Note: The following article includes details about abuse that may be triggering. Please proceed thoughtfully.
For the past two weeks, various women have come forward with serious claims about actor Armie Hammer's personal life. Now, another one of his exes, model Paige Lorenze, has made more public allegations against him.
It began in early January, when explicit direct messages were circulated around, allegedly "leaked" from a former partner of Hammer's, who claimed they engaged in sex acts that felt dangerous and non-consensual. While his main unnamed accuser has claimed more than 200 women have contacted her regarding similar relationships with Hammer, since then, two more of his former girlfriends have publicly come forward to back up the allegations with their own stories.
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“He said to me he wants to break my rib and barbecue and eat it,” Vucekovich said.
“'‘Fuck that was weird,’ but you never think about it again,” she continued. “He says, ‘I want to take a bite out of you.’ If I had a little cut on my hand, he’d like suck it or lick it. That’s about as weird as we got. He likes the idea of skin in his teeth,” she claimed.
The claims all share another common theme, which is that Hammer allegedly exhibited grooming and other emotionally abusive behaviour. “He quickly grooms you in the relationship,” Vucekovich said. “He kind of captivates you and while being charming, he’s grooming you for these things that are darker and heavier and consuming. When I say consuming, I mean mentally, physically, emotionally, financially, just everything.”
Following their breakup, Vucekovich reportedly had panic attacks and says she checked herself into a 30-day partial hospitalization program for PTSD and trauma.
In a January 21 interview with Star Magazine, Lorenze made similar claims about Hammer's alleged desire to engage in cannibalism. They dated from October to December 2020, right after Vucekovich. "He said he wanted to find a doctor that would remove my ribs," Lorenze said. "He was telling me you can remove the bottom ribs so he could smoke them, cook them, and eat them. He kept saying 'You don't need them.'" But she said it wasn't all just talk. Lorenze claimed that he carved the letter "A" into her skin using a knife, which was "extremely painful," and that Hammer "boasted about it."
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After her interview was published, some people on the Internet pointed out a few photos she posted on Instagram during the time she was dating Hammer where they claimed to see bruises on her body.
Similarly to Vucekovich, Lorenze also claimed Hammer was "charming," and used that to emotionally abuse her. "[Hammer] eased me into darker and darker things... he manipulated me — and I liked him — which is the scary part," she said. "Consent is really complex, and saying yes to something does not negate the trauma you might be burdened with after the fact." She felt her experience dating Hammer was "traumatic," and also sought therapy after their split.
On January 19, Hammer publicly apologized for a video leaked from his secret Instagram account, in which he referred to a woman pictured on a bed in lingerie, presumably in the Cayman Islands — where he and his family have been quarantining — as “Ms. Cayman.” (She is not the actual Miss Cayman Islands).
Hammer, who in July of last year announced he and his wife of 10 years, Elizabeth Chambers, were getting a divorce, has not yet responded to the allegations directly, but did denounce "bullshit claims" and "the vicious and spurious online attacks" after announcing that he planned to "step away" from a movie he was due to film with J.Lo.
Refinery29 has reached out to Hammer for additional comment.
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please visit Shelter Space.
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