Rhianna Benson
Ever since multiple sexual misconduct allegations were brought against him back in 2021, actor Armie Hammer has taken a partial break from the spotlight.
This week, however, the Hollywood star has broken his silence on the abuse accusations - which he denied at the time - branding them 'hilarious' in his first ever interview on the matter.
Three years ago, fans all over the world were left shocked when an anonymous social media account released screenshots it claimed were text messages that the movie star, 37, had sent to various women over the years.
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Amongst the numerous assertions made in the conversation was a comment the Social Network star had allegedly made about one of his sexual 'fantasies', which included a desire to consume his lovers.
Following the bizarre news, several unnamed women spoke to press about their past experiences in relationships with Hammer, with one claiming he had expressed a desire to cook and eat one of her ribs.
Another told Page Six that he'd "branded her, purposefully left her covered in bruises, and also talked about 'consuming her'."
The Call Me By Your Name frontman immediately denied all criminal accusations made against him, though stated last year that he had engaged in consensual BDSM acts with his former lovers.
He also admitted to having been emotionally abusive to his accusers, though maintained he'd never acted physically and sexually abusive.
And this week, in a bombshell interview conducted by social media star Tyler Ramsay, Hammer has maintained his innocence on the matter, claiming he's especially 'grateful' for the 'cannibalism' accusation.
Speaking on the Painful Lessons podcast, he firstly claimed: "Whatever it was that people said, whatever it was that happened, I’m now at a place in my life where I’m grateful for every single bit of it."
Hammer went on: "There was things that people were saying about me which were so outlandish. That I was a cannibal.
"Now, I'm able to look at it with a sense of distance and perspective, and be like, 'That's hilarious'. People called me a cannibal and everyone believed them. They're like, 'Yep, that guy ate people', and you're just like, 'What?!'."
Describing the allegation as 'bizarre', the Death on The Nile star admitted: "It was an ego death, a career death … A neutron bomb went off in my life. It killed off [everything]."
Confessing he feels his career is now going 'nowhere', the actor went as far as to claim he considered ending his own life in the midst of the controversy.
Recalling his trip to the Cayman Islands following the initial accusations, the father-of-two - who shares his children with recently-divorced ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers - admitted: "There were a lot of times when I thought, 'I can’t take this any more.' And I hit really low, dark points.
"I was standing on the shore and I just looked out at the ocean and thought, ‘Yep, this is it,’ and I just swam out really f*****g far… and was just laying there… [in] a half-assed suicide attempt.
"[But I thought] I can’t do that to my kids."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.