Posted in: Movies | Tagged: armie hammer, casey affleck, nate parker

Armie Hammer Apologizes to Casey Affleck for Calling Him Out on Sexual Harassment

Published Fri, 08 Dec 2017 18:58:32 -0600

Last updated Fri, 08 Dec 2017 19:01:24 -0600

Armie Hammer found himself in trouble in November when he made some controversial statements about Nate Parker and Casey Affleck during a THR interview.

"Nate had the stuff in his past, which is heinous and tough to get beyond. I get that," Hammer said in the interview. "But that was when he was 18, and now he's in directors jail. At the same time, the guy who went and won an Academy Award has three cases of sexual assault against him."

Hammer went on to minimize the accusations against Parker, saying the director "had one incident — which was heinous and atrocious," but — of course there's a "but" — Hammer continues, "but his entire life is affected in the worst possible way. And the other guy won the highest award you can get as an actor. It just doesn't make sense."

Hammer also said that the resurfacing of the details during the release of Parker's Birth of a Nation were "orchestrated for sure," saying, "There was another person in the industry, who had a competing film for the Academy Awards, who decided to release all of the phone records and information. I've been told who did it — by several people."

In an email sent to Bleeding Cool, Hammer has now issued a public apology. No, not to victims of sexual assault for looking at a case where a victim committed suicide and deciding that the problem was a man in director's jail — not a real thing, by the way — but instead to Casey Affleck. In the course of his apology, Hammer takes the time to lay out in detail what Affleck was accused of, when, and how the accusations were resolved (settled out of court).

"I would like to sincerely apologize to Casey and his family for my recent comments about him in my THR interview," Hammer said in the 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. The cases in which Casey was involved were not criminal and instead involved civil claims from his 2010 movie "I'm Still Here." 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," Hammer continued. "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.' 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."