Update!

Armie Hammer Calls Out Double Standard Between Nate Parker & Casey Affleck's Treatment in Hollywood

Birth of a Nation star addresses the fallout around his former director as compared with recent Oscar winner

By Samantha Schnurr Dec 08, 2017 11:20 PMTags
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UPDATEArmie Hammer has issued an apology to Casey Affleck for comments he made about the actor's alleged sexual harassment cases described in the below interview.

"I would like to sincerely apologize to Casey and his family for my recent comments about him in my THR interview," the Call Me By Your Name star said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "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."

He continued, "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's message concluded, "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."

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Armie Hammer is not shy about sharing his opinion. 

As Hollywood faces a variety of sexual misconduct allegations against some of the most famous actors, producers and other male figures in the business, Hammer is pointing out what he considers a double standard in how the industry has treated some of the accused, specifically Nate Parker and Casey Affleck

In a frank interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Birth of a Nation actor addressed the fallout around his former director, Parker, after past rape allegations reemerged the summer before the film was widely released.

The timing of the headlines "was orchestrated for sure," Hammer alleged to THR. "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."

While Hammer did not name anyone, the headlines he's referring to brought Parker's 1999 alleged rape charges to the forefront of the pop culture conversation last summer.

Nearly two decades ago, Parker and his Penn State roommate and later co-writer of the story the film is based on, Jean Celestin, were charged with raping an 18-year-old female student. Parker was ultimately acquitted and has maintained their encounter was consensual. Meanwhile, Celestin was acquitted of rape, but convicted of sexual assault. He appealed the charges and the case was never retried. In 2012, their accuser committed suicide. 

"I am filled with profound sorrow…I can't tell you how hard it is to hear this news. I can't help but think of all the implications this has for her family," Parker wrote on Facebook in August 2016. "I cannot- nor do I want to ignore the pain she endured during and following our trial. While I maintain my innocence that the encounter was unambiguously consensual, there are things more important than the law."

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"Nate had the stuff in his past, which is heinous and tough to get beyond. I get that," Hammer told The Hollywood Reporter. "But that was when he was 18, and now he's in directors jail.

Parker has not appeared in a film since 2016. As Hammer continued, "At the same time, the guy who went and won an Academy Award has three cases of sexual assault against him."

The actor confirmed he was referring to Casey Affleck, who won the 2016 Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in Manchester by the Sea. Affleck was sued by two women, not three, in 2010 for alleged sexual harassment. He denied the claims and the cases were settled out of court and dismissed

"[Parker] had one incident—which was heinous and atrocious—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 continued to the magazine. 

After the interviewer reminded the actor of the differing allegations against the two men, Hammer clarified his stance. 

"I'm not saying Nate should not have been in trouble. I'm saying that they got in different levels of trouble. And that's the disparity. It's like there are two standards for how to deal with someone who has this kind of issue in their past, you know?"

(This story was originally published Monday, November 20, 2017 at 1:37 p.m.)