Armie Hammer and the 'cancelled' celebrities who rage bait their way into headlines.

Just like the rest of us, generationally wealthy Hollywood actor Armie Hammer is struggling in the cost of living crisis. 

He is the great-grandson of 1950s oil tycoon Armand Hammer. For several years, he was also one of the most booked and busy leading men in Hollywood. But now he claims he can't afford petrol for his very expensive truck. 

You guys, it's so sad. His fans are so upset about this truck video. Why? Because he was "cancelled".

What actually happened was that Hammer faced sexual abuse allegations in 2021, with accusations including rape, engaging in cannibalism fantasies, and coercing partners into BDSM scenarios. 

The LAPD and L.A. District Attorney's office investigated the claims in 2023 and brought no criminal charges against Hammer due to "insufficient evidence." Hammer denies the allegations and holds that his often "intense" sexual relationships with the accusers were "consensual".

One accuser, a woman known as Effie, continues to rebuff his claims to this day. She has previously spoken of the lasting impact of the experience, telling Page Six she "lost interest in living".

Following the fallout, which included his wife, Elizabeth Chambers, filing for divorce, Hammer temporarily moved to the Cayman Islands to become a "working man".

Recently, Hammer credited Robert Downey Jr with giving him advice in the wake of the scandal, and said that Downey Jr's advice was, "sit down, shut up, everything is going to be okay".

Hammer disappeared for a while and briefly took a job at a hotel resort selling timeshares until he was ready to return to Hollywood. But more recently, Hammer has seemed eager to stage a comeback, moving back to Los Angeles to work on a script with a friend. 

He's been drip-feeding rogue quotes to the media in recent months on shows like Piers Morgan Uncensored and the Painful Lessons podcast. The next step on the comeback tour? A viral Instagram video. 

Hammer said that he had decided to sell his beloved truck at CarMax as he embraces his new life. But not before sharing his struggles online.

Armie Hammer says he's "happier than ever" after his cancellation. Image: Getty.

"This is my truck," Hammer said in a new Instagram video, where he revealed he bought the truck in 2017 as a "Christmas gift" for himself. 

"I've had pickup trucks for a long time, and I have loved this truck intensely and taken it camping and across [the] country multiple times and on long road trips," he said. "Since being back in L.A., I have put about $400 or $500 worth of gas in it, and I can't afford it. I can't afford the gas anymore."

Hammer went on to say the truck held precious memories, including many with his children. 

"Here's to new beginnings," he added, noting that he's trading it in for a car that will only need around "10 bucks of gas in it a month."

Personally, I'd love to know more about the mathematics and logic that went into this monologue.

Now, do not get me wrong. I'm not saying that millionaires can't watch their pennies like the rest of us. But there's likely a reason he felt the need to document this, of all his moments, on his scarce Instagram page. It's one of just five posts he's shared on Instagram since he kicked off his return to public life in November 2023.

Some commenters couldn't help but feel confused. They had questions. Did he not invest any of his inherited money? Does he not have savings from his many movies? Most "normal" people are paying outrageous petrol prices right now, why is this news? Well, it's not. But it looks an awful lot like rage bait, and he got the reaction he wanted. 

Tough times at CarMax for Armie Hammer. Image: Instagram/@armiehammer.

The post was met with sympathy and an outpouring of "we miss you" style comments from fans, who called for his return to Hollywood. It's also been perfectly picked up by leading media outlets around the world. Several headlines have focused on his return to L.A. and his bond with his truck, with brief mentions of the reason he left in the first place. 

The truck saga is the latest in a series of viral moments that mark Hammer's return to Hollywood, where rage bait seems to be his preferred method of making headlines.

In 2023, his interview on Bill Maher's Club Random went viral when he called himself a "phoenix rising from the ashes" and said he was "happier than ever" after the abuse allegations. 

This year, he side-stepped Piers Morgan's direct question about the allegations by saying, with a smile, "You know what you have to do to be a cannibal? You have to have actually eaten somebody."

When pressed, he continued, "Different people have different sexual fantasies. I don't think that's any different than when someone looks at a baby and goes, 'Oh my God, look at those cute little fat legs, I just want to eat you up.'"

Um, okay. 

The quotes went viral, of course. And it seems that he's following a well-worn path back to the limelight after being "cancelled".

Johnny Depp spoke about being 'cancelled'. Image: Getty.

In 2021, Johnny Depp said cancel culture was "so far out of hand" and that "no one was safe". He begged his fans to "stand up against injustice". And they did, as vitriol for Amber Heard reached new heights. 

Do you know what "cancelled" Johnny Depp was also doing in 2021? He released two films, Minamata and City of Lies. In fact, Minamata premiered to rave reviews and the actor received the Donostia Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. 

He continued his contract as the face of Dior Sauvage. 

The following year, there was an online petition from his fans with more than 800,000 signatures calling for him to return to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Two years later, in 2023, he premiered his new film Jeanne du Barry at the Cannes Film Festival. He received a seven-minute standing ovation. 

Louis CK turned his "cancellation" into a Grammy winning comedy special. Image: Getty.

Louis CK was cancelled in 2017. He was accused of sexual misconduct by five different women, and admitted to masturbating in front of female colleagues. 

"The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly," he said in a statement.

At the time, headlines declared he had been cancelled and fans decried that it was unfair how these allegations would destroy his career. 

In 2022, CK was awarded a Grammy for a standup special in which he recast his sexual misconduct as a fetish.

But... weren't these celebrities "cancelled"?

With public support for Armie Hammer only growing, it's clear his return to Hollywood is imminent. Just like many before him it seems he will be back in no time, with or without his gas-guzzling truck.

Feature Image: Instagram.