Warning: This post includes references to graphic sexual violence.
Armie Hammer's ex-wife of ten years, Elizabeth Chambers, is ready to talk.
It's been more than a year and a half since multiple women came forward with disturbing allegations of inappropriate and nonconsensual behaviour and emotional abuse against her ex-husband, but she says her necessary "incubation period" is now drawing to a close.
Watch a snippet of the interview. Post continues after video.
The couple announced they were separating in 2020, before the allegations came to light, allegedly because Chambers discovered his ongoing infidelity.
As news of alleged sexual assaults and Hammer's violent sexual fantasies, (and possible cannibalism), were revealed in the first half of 2021, Chambers responded with a simple Instagram message.
"For weeks, I’ve been trying to process everything that has transpired," she wrote.
"Heartbreak aside, I am listening, and will continue to listen and educate myself on these delicate matters. I didn’t realise how much I didn’t know," she continued.
"I support any victim of assault or abuse and urge anyone who has experienced this pain to seek the help she or he needs to heal."
Now, in September 2022, Chambers has given her first interview to ENews.
"For a very long time we've said, 'No comment, no comment, no comment,'" she said.
"Part of me felt like it was taking the high road and part of me was like, just let us process. And part of me was like, it's none of your business. "
While Chambers didn't comment on the allegations against Hammer specifically in her new interview, she says, "I consider myself a feminist and stand in solidarity with anyone who has been a victim of any sort and hope they find healing."
"I'm not being here, like, 'My life is amazing,' because it's been hell for a long time. They say, 'When you're going through hell, keep on going,'" she reflected. "It's so cliché, but you have to work through it. You can't numb it and you can't pretend it doesn't exist. Call in every resource, ask for help, tell people what you need. And if they're not going to be there for you, then they're not your people," she added.
Chambers says she did watch the new docuseries House of Hammer released this year about her ex-husband's family and admits, "I definitely was surprised, but I think that's to be expected." Nowadays, however, she says she and Hammer are "in a really great place," and "talk all the time."
"I did not plan on seeing it, but I did drop the kids off at school one day and came home and watched it with my support system around me," Chambers said. "It was obviously heartbreaking on so many levels and very painful. But at the same time, it exists. The past is the past and all we can do is take this as a moment to learn and listen, and hopefully process and heal in every capacity."
Their divorce is yet to be finalised due to logistics, but they are "committed fully and wholly to our children and to being together as much as possible in a non-romantic way for our kids."
Reflecting on her ten years of marriage, Chambers told ENews she thinks of everything "as a gift."
"I feel that everything has happened as it's supposed to for me, and I am not speaking on anyone else. All we can do is be responsible for ourselves, right, and all we can do is react in a way that is with compassion, with love, with understanding."
She and Hammer are in "constant communication" and Chambers says she is helping him with his "process".
The 40-year-old says her faith has gotten her through, and she's now in a "new chapter".
"I describe myself as very focused and very clear—and healed, honestly. I feel like I'm in a really good space and the best mom I could be. The best I could be in work, the best leader I can be. That hasn't always been the case over the last year. It's a good moment."
She confirmed she is in a committed relationship now with someone else, physio and wellness therapist Ricardas Kazinec, who she shared photos off on Instagram last week.
What are the allegations against Armie Hammer?
The allegations against Armie Hammer first surfaced on January 10, 2021, after an Instagram account, House of Effie, shared screenshots of graphic messages alleged to have been sent from the actor's official Instagram account.
In the alleged messages, which reportedly date back to 2016, Hammer spoke about drinking blood and described various graphic sex acts, which included sexual references to cannibalism.
"I need to drink your blood," one message read.
"I am 100 per cent a cannibal. I want to eat you," another said.
"You just live to obey me and be my slave. I will own you. If I wanted to cut off one of your toes and keep it with me in my pocket so I always had a piece of you in my possession?" a third message read.
Since the screenshots were shared, multiple women have come forward with similar stories from their alleged sexual relationships with the Call Me By Your Name actor .
Courtney Vucekovich, who dated Hammer from June to August, described their short-lived relationship as emotionally abusive.
"He quickly grooms you in the relationship. 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," she told Page Six.
"He sucks out all the goodness you have left. That’s what he did to me. I gave and gave and gave until it hurt."
In the interview, the 30-year-old app developer described Hammer's behaviour in their relationship as "obsessive", claiming the actor would text her 100 times per day when they weren't together.
"I wasn’t safe," she said. "I had this gut feeling the whole time that this was not right. He’s not well."
Another former girlfriend, Paige Lorenze, claimed that Hammer branded her by carving the letter "A" into her pelvis.
"He basically tied me up and he was doing knife play... Knife play made me the most uncomfortable out of everything that happened," she told The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
"He looks over me and says, 'Where am I going to put my initials on you?' He chose a spot and did it," she recounted.
"I remember it being uncomfortable and very painful but I honestly blacked out. I don’t fully remember how that felt in that moment because I was in so much pain."
She also alleged that Hammer bruised her during sex, and sent photos of her naked body to people without her consent.
The explicit photos, according to Lorenze, were taken without her knowledge and sent to other women he was speaking to.
Speaking to Kyle and Jackie O, Lorenze claimed that Hammer "wanted to find a doctor to remove the ribs I don't need".
She continued: "He has a smoker in his house in LA and he wanted to smoke it and eat it. He would always say, 'I wonder what it tastes like? I bet it tastes good.'"
In 2022 a new docuseries called House of Hammer another alleged victim, Julia Morrison, was sent a text by Hamnmer that read, "I have a fantasy about having someone prove their love and devotion and tying them up in a public place at night and making their body free use."
What has Armie Hammer said?
In January 2021, Hammer withdrew from the film Shotgun Wedding, which he was set to star in alongside Jennifer Lopez.
In a statement to Variety , the 34-year-old said: "I’m not responding to these bulls**t claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic. Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I’m grateful to them for that."
A lawyer representing Hammer denied the allegations in a statement.
"These assertions about Mr. Hammer are patently untrue. Any interactions with this person, or any partner of his, were completely consensual in that they were fully discussed, agreed upon, and mutually participatory," the statement read, according to The Sun.
"The stories being perpetuated in the media are a misguided attempt to present a one-sided narrative with the goal of tarnishing Mr. Hammer’s reputation, and communications from the individuals involved prove that."
The Los Angeles Police Department said in September 2022, an investigation into a rape allegation made against Hammer was ongoing.
"Once law enforcement has completed their investigation and submits the case to our office, we will conduct an evaluation and file criminal charges that are supported by the evidence," a media rep for the department told ENews .
Armie Hammer and Elizabeth Chambers' relationship.
Armie Hammer and Elizabeth Chambers met through a mutual friend in 2006. At the time, Chambers was dating someone else.
"Our friendship continued to grow and grow until one day when I was like, 'I can’t be friends with you anymore. You’ve got to break up with your boyfriend, and we’ve got to start dating,'" Hammer told Vulture .
The couple got married in May 2010 and welcomed two children together, seven-year-old daughter Harper and five-year-old son Ford.
In an interview with Playboy in 2013, Hammer opened up about his sex life.
"I liked the grabbing of the neck and the hair and all that. But then you get married and your sexual appetites change... And I mean that for the better — it’s not like I’m suffering in any way. But you can’t really pull your wife’s hair. It gets to a point where you say, 'I respect you too much to do these things that I kind of want to do.'"
In July 2020, the couple announced their separation after 10 years of marriage.
"Thirteen years as best friends, soulmates, partners and then parents," a joint statement on Instagram read.
"It has been an incredible journey, but together, we’ve decided to turn the page and move on from our marriage. As we enter into this next chapter, our children and relationship as co-parents and dear friends will remain our priority."
This article was published in 2021, and updated on September 22, 2022.
For more on this topic:
- "Like f***ing Ms Cayman again." Why everyone is still talking about Armie Hammer.
- What we're missing about the Armie Hammer story: It's not about the 'kinky' messages.
- An infamous Playboy interview and a break-out role in Gossip Girl: The life of Armie Hammer.
- The Armie Hammer allegations keep getting worse.
- "So you were willing to let him do it?" The voices getting louder amid the Armie Hammer allegations.
If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
Feature Image: Getty/ENews.