Armie Hammer is hitting back at accusations that derailed his acting career as he has since been cleared by two official investigations.
The 37-year-old American actor's life and career were derailed in 2021 when he was accused of rape and of sending sexually explicit messages online - including cannibalistic fantasies.
The allegations sparked a police investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, while a bitter custody case involving his ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers over their two children was also launched in the Cayman Islands where she resides.
Speaking to Bill Maher on his show Club Random, Armie argued that he should be forgiven by the public after both investigations cleared him.
He explained, "There was an investigation by the LAPD that lasted for two and a half years. So, I was under the sort of Damocles, legally speaking, for two and a half years. They went through phones, emails, eyewitness reports.
"They investigated me for two and a half years in a time where if they could have nailed someone like me, it would have been such a boon for the LAPD. And after two and a half years, they came to the conclusion that there is no evidence any crime had been committed."
He continued, "And then the other thing there was a full psychological evaluation that I had to go through in the Cayman Islands because of the custody battle. I had to subject myself for a multi-month, full psychological evaluation. And the report at the end of that was glowing."
He added, "By the way, they were like 'He's got issues. (But) He's not what people are saying'."
Meanwhile, TMZ reports the star has acknowledged he exhibited less than gentlemanly behaviour in the past, and conceded, "I'm here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an a**hole, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on ... and treated people more poorly than they should have been treated."
Armie's career was derailed by the accusations and his last film project, Death on the Nile, was released in 2022.
