Armie Hammer Apologized To Casey Affleck
In a recent cover story with The Hollywood Reporter, should-be-down-on-his-knees-thanking-the-Hollywood-gods-for-this-unexpected-career-resurgence actor Armie Hammer had some thoughts about the current “Outing Celebrity Pervs Initiative 2017.” Armie appeared in 2016’s Birth of a Nation, a film that was seen by some as on a fast track to an Oscar nom. That was until it was revealed that writer/director/star Nate Parker had been acquitted of rape charges in 2001, with the victim committing suicide in 2012. And that was the last you saw of Birth of a Nation being feted by Hollywood. In the interview, Armie questioned why Nate Parker is now in “director jail” due to the incident resurfacing while Casey Affleck won an Oscar last year. Casey Affleck’s Oscar win was despite the revelation that he had been sued for sexual harassment by two crew members on his 2010 mockumentary I’m Still Here. Brie Larson must have nodded approvingly while reading that story.
Someone obviously had some words with The Lone Ranger (seriously, dude must be kissing the feet of the Call Me By Your Name director), because he’s apologized for what he said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. (By the way, Casey settled out of court with his accusers.)
“I would like to sincerely apologize to Casey and his family for my recent comments about him in my THR interview,” the Call Me by Your Name star says in an exclusive statement. “Without knowing the facts about the civil lawsuits at issue (which I now understand were settled), I misspoke. I conflated sexual harassment cases with a criminal case involving sexual assault charges.”
Armie had accused Hollywood of a “double standard” (HOLLYWOOD? No, never!) when it came to the two incidents. Now he’s pressing his foot down on the backpedal. Hard.
“The cases in which Casey was involved were not criminal and instead involved civil claims from his 2010 movie I’m Still Here,” Hammer tells THR in the statement. “While intending to make a social comment about double standards in general, I mistakenly compared reports of prior, public civil allegations that never proceeded to trial with a criminal case that was fully tried. I understand now that this was a poor comparison, which I deeply regret making.”
In the interview, Armie accused an unnamed someone of maliciously leaking the Nate Parker story in order to knock it out of the Oscar race. The inference was that it was Casey or someone from his team. Oops, no, no, nope, sorry, wasn’t them.
“I also didn’t mean to insinuate, nor do I believe, that Casey or anyone from his camp had anything to do with leaked information that took place during the press for Birth of a Nation,” he says. “I respect Casey’s work, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson about the need to be more accurate with disseminating information, especially in this age of instantaneous, unchecked communication. While attempting to be part of the solution, I unintentionally made myself part of the problem, for which I am truly sorry.”
Armie was basically a three-pump-chump when it came to his film career. He was celebrated for his dual role in The Social Network, but then followed it up with wrecks like The Lone Ranger and Mirror, Mirror. Things looked bleaked for Arm & Hammer until Call Me By Your Name sent film critics into spasms of delight. It’s pretty obvious that someone’s management/PR apparatus read the THR interview and told him to lock the lips if he wants any chance at an Oscar nom. Honestly, it’s December 2017 and it’s a whole new world. If you don’t have anything to do with it personally, you should keep it short and truthful (sexual assault and sexual harassment = bad) when they ask you the serious questions and move on to what you’re wearing. Also, the judgment of someone who agreed to co-star in Mirror, Mirror is suspect. Cuz’ that movie was bullshit and I’ll never get that time back and Julia Roberts and her big, evil teeth should be ashamed.
Pic: Wenn.com