Armie Hammer has officially returned to Instagram after a turbulent few years in which he was shunned from Hollywood following the rise of sexual assault allegations.
The Call Me By Your Name actor, 37, reappeared on the app with a bizarre video with an explanatory caption.
Hammer appeared to be sitting on a train with a laptop on his lap as a clip from the 1968 mystery film The Swimmer played on the computer.
The comments section was flooded with welcome messages from fans happy to see the actor back on their Instagram feeds.
The post came after the Los Angeles district attorney announced that the actor would not be charged on sexual assault charges. It also comes after the end of his marriage to Elizabeth Chambers.
He’s back: Armie Hammer has officially returned to Instagram amid a turbulent few years in which he was shunned from Hollywood following sexual assault allegations against him
Interesting explanation: Armie appeared to be sitting on a train with a laptop on his lap while a clip from the 1968 mystery film The Swimmer played on the computer
The Social Network star has been under investigation for sexual assault since February 2021 after his ex-girlfriend, Effie Angelova, 26, accused him of “violently” raping and abusing her in 2017.
In May, the LA County District Attorney’s Office announced that the actor would not be charged on sexual assault charges following Effie’s rape allegations.
Armie posted a statement on his Instagram account after spokesperson LA DA George Gascon announced he would not be charged due to “insufficient evidence.”
“I am very grateful to the District Attorney’s Office for conducting a thorough investigation and reaching the conclusion that I have maintained all along that no crime was committed,” Hammer wrote.
“I look forward to beginning what will be a long and difficult process of getting my life back on track now that my name has been cleared.”
The message no longer appears on his Instagram.
Tiffiny Blacknell, director of the district attorney’s Bureau of Communications, said in a statement that they could not prove Angelova’s claims.
‘Sexual assault cases are often difficult to prove. That’s why we assign our most experienced prosecutors to review them. In this case, prosecutors conducted an extremely thorough investigation but determined that there is insufficient evidence at this time to charge Mr. Hammer with a crime,” she said.
“As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. We know it is difficult for women to report sexual violence,” Blacknell added.
She did say the province would continue to support alleged victims with services.
No explanation: Hammer didn’t provide an explanatory caption, but fans were still happy to see him back on their Instagram feeds
Split: His wife, Elizabeth Chambers, with whom Armie shares two children, Harper and Ford, has filed for divorce after ten years of marriage in the wake of the controversy
“Even if we are unable to move forward with a prosecution, our victim services representatives will be available to those who engage our victim services. Due to the complexity of the relationship and the inability to prove a non-consensual, coerced sexual encounter, we cannot prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
He has denied the rape allegations through his lawyer, saying all his sexual encounters were “completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance and mutually participatory.”
Several other women came forward and accused Hammer of being interested in kinky sex and even cannibalism in the wake of Angelova’s claims.
The Social Network actor was dropped by his personal publicist and former agency, as well as multiple projects, following the allegations.
Hammer also dropped a role in Jennifer Lopez’s film Shotgun Wedding, but maintained his innocence.
“I am not responding to these allegations, but in light of the cruel and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children alone for four months to shoot a movie in the Dominican Republic. he said in a statement to the Ny Breaking.
The actor then claimed that he tried to commit suicide in the Cayman Islands after the backlash.
Former flame: The former couple pictured in 2018
“I just walked into the ocean and swam as far as I could and hoped I drowned, or got hit by a boat, or got eaten by a shark,” Hammer said.
Angelova hit back, accusing Hammer of being “manipulative” and “generating sympathy.”
She said he told her the suicide story years before she spoke out, and that he only shared it publicly in an effort to gain sympathy and silence his victims.
The actor has admitted to emotionally abusing his former partners, but blames his actions on being traumatized by a youth pastor who allegedly sexually abused him when he was 13.
The scandal began when the Instagram account House of Effie began leaking disturbing messages allegedly sent by him between 2016 and February 2020, including conversations about BDSM, in addition to numerous sexual references to cannibalistic acts and blood sucking.
In one message, the actor allegedly wrote to the woman: “I am 100% a cannibal. I want to eat you.’
‘F**k. That’s scary to admit,” the message continues. “I’ve never admitted that before.”
Hammer’s former partners Paige Lorenze and Courtney Vucekovich also subsequently accused him of being physically and emotionally abusive while they were together.
Armie posted a statement on his Instagram account after spokesperson LA DA George Gascon announced he would not be charged due to ‘insufficient evidence’
Lorenze said Page six that the actor had carved the letter ‘A’ into her pelvis to brand her and then sucked the blood that seeped out.
In March 2021, Angelova officially came forward with her attorney Gloria Allred, claiming, “On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles, repeatedly slamming my head against a wall and bruising my face.
“He also committed other acts of violence against me, to which I did not consent.”
Angelova said she thought Hammer was “going to kill her” and claimed he hit her feet during the alleged attack “so they would hurt,” according to Variety.
The 26-year-old claimed she met Hammer on Facebook when she was 20, before falling in love with the actor.
But since then she says she has fallen victim to “manipulation tactics.”
Shortly afterwards, the LAPD confirmed it was investigating the actor after a “community member” came forward with an attorney on February 3, 2021, with a claim of sexual assault.
Hammer has consistently denied the allegations against him.
His attorney has said Hammer’s meeting with Angelova was “completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory.”
In a statement, the lawyer said: ‘Effie’s own correspondence with Mr Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations. As recently as July 18, 2020, (she) sent explicit texts to Mr. Hammer telling him what she wanted him to do to her.
‘Mr. Hammer responded and made it clear that he did not want to maintain such a relationship with her.
“It was never Mr. Hammer’s intention to embarrass or expose (Effie’s) fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil attorney to file a public to organize a 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 any 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 harder for real victims of sexual assault to get the justice they deserve.”