Warning: This post contains descriptions of sexual violence.
It was the Instagram account House of Effie that sent actor Armie Hammer‘s reputation into a tailspin at the beginning of 2021, with the release of a series of screenshots allegedly between account owner Effie and Hammer. In those screenshots, Hammer appeared to confess to a number of violent sexual fantasies, some of them cannibalistic; he also appeared to apologize for an incident in which he’d harmed her and gone too far. Today, famed attorney Gloria Allred, whose clients include the family of OJ Simpson’s late wife Nicole Brown Simpson in her murder trial, two of Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriends, and Anthony Weiner’s sexting recipients, appeared at a press conference with a client named Effie who gave her own account of an alleged relationship with Hammer. Effie alleged that Hammer had violently raped her in 2017 during a Zoom conference, visibly distraught. And though Allred did not confirm that this Effie is that same one who appeared as House of Effie on social media, it’s clear already that many details of her story match those seen in the aforementioned screenshots.
Hammer and his representation have denied all claims of inappropriate conduct from the get-go, claiming that each of the women who has come out against him — exes Paige Lorenze, Courtney Vucekovich, and Effie, among other anonymous accounts — had been in a consensual sexual relationship with the actor and had agreed to all sexual contact that took place. Despite his denials, he was dropped from two upcoming projects, as well as by his agency WME.
Per Variety, Effie’s allegations against Hammer today were delivered through tears. She described a four-year on-off relationship after meeting on social media in 2016, during which time she alleges multiple instances of physical abuse.
“On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles, during which he repeatedly slapped my head against a wall bruising my face,” Effie said. “He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent.”
“I thought that he was going to kill me,” she said, adding that she tried to get away “but he wouldn’t let me.”
Since the conference, a spokesperson for LAPD has confirmed to Variety that “Armie Hammer is the main suspect in an alleged sexual assault investigation that was initiated Feb. 3 of this year.”
In a statement to SheKnows, Hammer’s lawyer Andrew Brettler echoed the actor’s previous claims that these allegations stem from consensual relationships. Effie’s full name has been removed from this statement per her request in today’s press conference that her full name not be revealed.
“[Effie’s] own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations. As recently as July 18, 2020, [Effie] sent graphic texts to Mr. Hammer telling him what she wanted him to do to her. Mr. Hammer responded making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her,” the statement read. “It was never Mr. Hammer’s intention to embarrass or expose [her] fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference. With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight.
“From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with [Effie] — and every other sexual partner of his for that matter — have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory,” the statement concludes. “[Effie’s] attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.”
On Instagram account House of Effie, the account owner has also often claimed that the release of the entirety of their messages to one another would exonerate her, a stance that attorney Allred echoed in a later response to Variety addressing Brettler’s statement.
“I challenge Armie Hammer to present all, not some, of his communications with Effie to the Los Angeles Police Department and answer all of their questions directly rather than through his lawyers,” she told the outlet.
In a message posted to the House of Effie Instagram story today, the text reads: “I just want to take a moment to say thank you all, I love you all, and am so grateful for you.”
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, harassment or violence, you can get help. To speak with someone who is trained to help with these situations, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or chat online at online.rainn.org.
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