The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will not be charging Armie Hammer following a two-year investigation stemming from sexual assault allegations made against the embattled actor in 2021, the L.A. County DA’s office said in a statement. 

 

“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. As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” Tiffiny Blacknell, Director of Communications for DA George Gascon, said in the statement.

 

Unable to determine that a non-consensual, forced sexual encounter occurred, Blacknell said the DA’s office could not prove the case against the Call Me By Your Name star.

 

“We know that it is hard for women to report sexual assault. Even when we cannot move forward with a prosecution, our victim service representatives will be available to those who seek our victim support services,” the statement continued. “Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

Los Angeles police launched an investigation against Hammer in May 2021, after a woman, who only identified herself as Effie, came forward, via attorney Gloria Allred, with public allegations that she was victimized by The Social Network actor in April 2017.

 

In a press statement at the time, Effie made several allegations of se*ual assault and abuse.

 

“He abused me mentally, emotionally and se*ually,” she claimed in her statement. “I thought that he was going to kill me.”

Hammer’s attorney denied her claims in full, telling ET in a statement at the time, “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. [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.”

 

Following Wednesday’s announcement, Hammer — who shares kids Grace, 8, and Ford Douglas Armand, 6, with ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers took to Instagram to share his gratitude toward the DA’s office for conducting a thorough investigation. With this behind him, the 36-year-old actor said he hopes to begin the “long” and “difficult” process of putting his life back together now that his name has been cleared.

 

“I am very grateful to the District Attorney for conducting a thorough investigation coming to the conclusion that I have stood by this entire time, that no crime was committed,” Hammer wrote, marking the first time he’s spoken out about the allegations since February.

 

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

 

He added in the caption, “I would like to say a very special thank you to all of the people who have helped me get through this time. Onwards and upwards.”

The Los Angeles police department initially launched an investigation against the Call My By Your Name actor in March 2021 when a woman named Effie Angelova claimed that she was victimized by Hammer in April 2017. 

 

Angelova, 24, previously spoke out about her alleged se*ual relationship with the Social Network star during a press conference in March 2021, claiming the pair were intimate on and off from 2016 to 2020 after meeting via Facebook.

 

According to Angelova, who met Hammer when she was 20, their relationship “progressed rapidly” and “emotions from both sides became really intense.”

 

“Looking back, it is now clear to me he was employing manipulation tactics in order to exert control over me until I started to lose myself. [He] would often test my devotion to him, crossing my boundaries as he became increasingly more violent and used me mentally, emotionally, se*ually.”

 

Angelova claimed that the Death of the Nile star “abused me mentally, emotionally, se*ually,” 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.”

 

Hammer, for his part, denied the allegations, with his lawyer telling Us Weekly in a lengthy statement that Angelova’s “own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations.”

 

“As recently as July 18, 2020, Ms. Angelova 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,” his attorney told Us. “It was never Mr. Hammer’s intention to embarrass or expose Ms. Angelova’s 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.”

 

The statement continued: “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 Ms. Angelova — and every other sexual partner of his for that matter — have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory. Ms. Angelova’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.”