Update!

Josh Duhamel to Replace Armie Hammer in Jennifer Lopez Movie Shotgun Wedding

Josh Duhamel has signed on to replace Armie Hammer in the film Shotgun Wedding, co-starring Jennifer Lopez, after Hammer stepped down amid a social media scandal.

By Lindsay Weinberg Jan 30, 2021 10:58 PMTags

UPDATE: Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Josh Duhamel was in talks to replace Armie Hammer in the upcoming film Shotgun Wedding, also starring Jennifer Lopez. It turns out, things are officially official. According to People, who first shared the news on Saturday, Jan. 30, the 48-year-old Las Vegas actor has signed on to the Lionsgate project.

E! News has reached out to both the studio and Josh's reps. At this time, we have yet to receive a response from the actor's team, while the studio hasn't commented.

Below, get all the details on why Armie stepped down from the role in the first place.

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The Armie Hammer saga continues: Josh Duhamel is now in talks to replace Hammer in the film Shotgun Wedding alongside Jennifer Lopez, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

A source tells E! News, "Nothing is official right now, however, Jennifer would welcome the chance to work with Josh Duhamel. They have met before and she thinks he's a great guy."

THR reports that Lopez does have a say in who will be her co-star. 

Directed by Pitch Perfect's Jason Moore, the movie reportedly follows two lovers at their destination wedding, as the guests are taken hostage. 

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Hammer stepped down from the role last week amid a scandal involving unverified accusations about his sexual fantasies.

Though the Rebecca actor said he is "not responding to these bulls--t claims," he decided to leave the project due to the public backlash.

"In light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot, in good conscience now, leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic," Hammer told E! News in a statement. "Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I'm grateful to them for that."

Matt Baron/Shutterstock; Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

At the time, a production spokesperson for Shotgun Wedding said, "Given the imminent start date of Shotgun Wedding, Armie has requested to step away from the film and we support him in his decision."

Earlier this month, Hammer trended on social media after several graphic direct messages allegedly from the actor were leaked. "I need to drink your blood," the 34 year old allegedly wrote. "Why the distance." Another message read, "You're my angel! You're made to save me." 

E! News has not confirmed the authenticity of the social media messages.

The poster, @houseofeffie, later claimed the DMs were not real, writing, "Ok ok, I admit it. It's all fake... But it was funny wasn't it?" The next day, on Jan. 11, @houseofeffie reverted back, saying, "crazy fans went so far as to fake a DM by me." 

The same day, writer Jessica Ciencin Henriquez, who was reportedly linked to Hammer in September 2020, said the NSFW messages "are real," adding, "I stand by women, and I hate men who don't."

Christopher Polk/E! Entertainment/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

More drama came into play on Jan. 17, when Hammer released an audio statement apologizing to an unnamed woman for calling her "Miss Cayman" in a video leaked by The Daily Mail

He told the Cayman Compass, "I would like to clarify that the person in my video, which was stolen from my private Instagram, is not Miss Cayman. I am genuinely sorry for any confusion my foolish attempt at humor may have caused."

The Call Me By Your Name star continued, "My deep sympathies to Miss Cayman, who I don't know, and to the entire organization as I had no intentions of implying she was actually Miss Cayman."

He initially captioned the Instagram video, "Well… my ex (for a very good reason) wife is refusing to come back to america with my children. So I have to go back to Cayman… which sucks. Except there are a few silver linings. Like f--king Ms. Cayman again while I'm down there."

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

He and his wife Elizabeth Chambers broke up in July 2020 after 10 years of marriage. At the start of the pandemic, the couple and their kids (daughter Harper Grace, 6, and son Ford Douglas Armand, 4) decided to stay in the Cayman Islands, but Hammer returned to L.A. after the split.

In October, he filed for joint custody, when his lawyer revealed in court docs, "Elizabeth and the children remain in the Cayman Islands and Armie has not seen the children in several months now."

The dad later gave a video interview to British GQ and admitted he has been seeing a therapist once a week following a major "wake-up call." Hammer told the publication, "I think like everyone else on the planet, I felt like the rug was ripped from under my feet and I felt like I could feel it happening in slow motion, like the rug was just being ripped from my feet and I was falling face-first and I was gonna smash my face on the ground." 

He reunited with Elizabeth, Harper and Ford at the beginning of this year in the Cayman Islands.

This article was originally published on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, at 2:51 p.m. PST.

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