Armie Hammer ‘shocked’ to find rape charges dropped against him so soon

Armie Hammer was seemingly surprised to find that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will not be pursuing rape charges against him due to “insufficient evidence.”

A source close to Hammer, who shares kids Grace, 8, and Ford Douglas Armand, 6, with ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers, told Entertainment Tonight that the actor was “shocked” as he “didn’t know that this case was going to be dropped today.”

The insider added, Hammer’s “highest priority right now is making things right with his kids and Elizabeth. His biggest fear is that his kids will see negative articles about him one day, so he’s very set on building up their trust and showing them the dad and man, he really is.”

On Wednesday, May 31, 2023, Tiffiny Blacknell, Director of Communications for DA George Gascon, told ET, “Sexual assault cases are often difficult to prove, which is why we assign our most experienced prosecutors to review them.

“In this case, those prosecutors conducted an extremely thorough review, but determined that at this time, there is insufficient evidence to charge Mr Hammer with a crime,” she continued. “As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“We know that it is hard for women to report sexual assault,” the statement continued. “Even when we cannot move forward with a prosecution, our victim service representatives will be available to those who seek our victim support services.”

Following the DA’s decision on Wednesday, the Call Me By Your Name actor, 36, expressed his gratitude on Instagram to the District Attorney for “conducting a thorough investigation” of claims that he has denied this “entire time.”

“I look forward to beginning what will be a long, difficult process of putting my life together now that my name is cleared,” he concluded his Instagram statement.

In March 2021, a woman named Effie Angelova claimed that she was victimised by Hammer in April 2017.

Angelova, 24, claimed that the Death of the Nile star “abused me mentally, emotionally, sexually,” pointing to an alleged incident in L.A. in 2017 where she alleged, “Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours.”

She also claimed that he “committed other acts of violence against me, to which I did not consent,” including beating her feet with a crop and slamming her head against the wall.

“During those four hours, I tried to get away,” she explained. “I found out that he was going to kill me. He then left with no concern for my well-being.”