Armie Hammer is eyeing a Hollywood return after he “got zero money from family” following his career downfall over allegations of cannibalism.
Hammer is “not living in some lap of luxury” but lives in a “very small” Los Angeles apartment while he works to jump-start his dormant career, a source told People magazine.
“He wants to show people he’s actually working for it. … He feels like he’s admitted to the wrongs he made, and he is determined to start over. He’s doing it in what he thinks is ‘the right way,’” the source added. “He definitely wants to have his career back, and he’s taking it step by step.”
Multiple women accused Hammer of sharing sexual fantasies with them that involved cannibalism. The first allegation came from the anonymous Instagram account House of Effie. Unverified screenshots allegedly showed messages sent from Hammer to an unidentified woman detailing BDSM acts and admitting the actor was “100% a cannibal.”
Paige Lorenze, the actor’s ex-girlfriend, claimed Hammer had a desire to smoke and eat her ribs, which was “definitely disturbing.”
“He was talking about finding a doctor to remove my ribs that I don’t need — the ribs that are on the bottom — and that he had a smoker at his house. He wanted to smoke them and eat them,” Lorenze previously told Fox News Digital. “He wondered how they would taste, and he basically was like, ‘I bet you they would taste good.'”
Hammer exited two major projects — a rom-com involving Jennifer Lopez and a series following the making of “The Godfather” — after the alleged sexual abuse and cannibalism fantasy controversy in January 2021.
ARMIE HAMMER’S EX-GIRLFRIEND SAYS ACTOR ‘HAS A DESIRE TO HURT WOMEN’
In 2023, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced Hammer would not face any charges related to the allegations.
Now the actor has a lawyer “handling everything” as he attempts to return to show business.
“He is super stoked about everything happening and really thinks his career is about to have a second wave. He has the podcast and two or three projects coming up,” a source told People.
WATCH: ARMIE HAMMER’S MOTHER SAYS IT WAS ‘SO AUDACIOUS’ THAT ACTOR WOULD ‘ACTUALLY EAT PEOPLE’
“He still gets frustrated at specific sensational allegations, but he’s trying to be at peace about it,” another source told the outlet.
Representatives for Hammer did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The public accusations began after ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers filed for divorce in 2020.
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Hammer’s plan could result in a career comeback, according to branding expert Doug Eldridge.
“In the macro, yes. America loves second chances, and this country was practically built on the concept of a comeback,” Eldridge told Fox News Digital. “In the micro, it remains to be seen.”
“There are certain categories of crimes and cultural transgressions that are largely unacceptable and often unforgivable — sexual assault, abuse of minors, pedophilia, etc. That said, it’s important to note that Hammer was never convicted of a crime, though he’s ostensibly been sentenced in the court of public opinion.”
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Eric Schiffer, CEO at Reputation Management Consultants, told Fox News Digital, “Armie Hammer’s potential to overcome catastrophic career death and relaunch his Hollywood career is not dead but hinges on how he manages the nuclear fallout and perception with past fans and the industry. If Armie navigates with excellence, he can see the same and even bigger fame than before.”
Hammer hasn’t actually made it to the rebrand or rebuild phase, according to Eldridge.
WATCH: ARMIE HAMMER’S MOTHER SAYS ACTOR IS ‘BABY STEPPING BACK TO JESUS’ AFTER CANNIBALISM ALLEGATIONS
“Watching him try to navigate this relaunch by himself has been like watching someone hit an icy patch on the road, only to over correct and start to spin out as a result,” the branding expert explained. “What would’ve likely been skid marks and a smashed guard rail ended up with Hammer running off the road altogether.
“He has repeatedly yanked the steering wheel throughout every step of the proverbial mea culpa process, only to spin out of control every time. As a result, he’s never been able to pivot to the rebrand/rebuild that generally follows the statement of contrition and the commitment to ‘work on himself and be a better person.’
“At this point, Hammer’s best option is to be indelibly clear that he was not, and is not, a cannibal in any form or fashion,” he noted. “In that same moment, he can lean into his quirkiness and will likely be embraced to some degree. Charlie Sheen drank tiger blood. Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie wore a vial of each other’s blood around their neck.
“While neither of these examples ever resonated with the meat of the American bell curve, most fans just shrugged, said ‘that’s weird’ and kept it moving. There’s a certain method to the madness there. Weird is one thing, crazy is another. Hammer should err toward the former, and he might just straighten out this spinning car in the end.”
ARMIE HAMMER’S MOM GOT HIM A VASECTOMY FOR HIS BIRTHDAY
The 38-year-old hasn’t made an onscreen comeback but has been speaking out on his podcast, “The Armie HammerTime Podcast,” launched in October.
In the first episode, Hammer admitted he had a “sort of indignation” over the last few years after the cannibalism and sexual scandals.
“I’m not gonna lie. I kinda like the cannibal stuff now. I’m just like, ‘Hey I’m a cannibal,'” Hammer told his first guest, comedian Tom Arnold, who noted, “The cannibalism thing is my favorite.”
According to Schiffer, “The podcast is an excellent move to highlight transparency, redemption and personal growth as long as it is authentic and doesn’t appear to be a way to get a quick money grab or pull a con job with the public. The podcast creates a platform to keep him relevant and in the news, and he can use it to rebuild his image. But some attempts to reshape his career death using it are clumsy, mangled and boneheaded.”
“Hammers’ admission of past mistakes and doing treatment helps align with the public’s desire for accountability, but jokes on being a cannibal are wacky, smug and disrespect highly serious claims against him that are like rat poison to his brand,” he added.
Those close to Hammer believe the actor can make a comeback.
His friends “are being cautiously optimistic,” one of the insiders told People. “They’re basically telling him, ‘Yes, this is all great, but we don’t want you to get your hopes up. And you get let down when people aren’t ready to take you back yet.’”
