So, normally, we wouldn’t report on every instance of an actor leaving a production and staying home with their family. But the news about Armie Hammer leaving the production of “Shotgun Wedding” to stay home with his family is, well, unique, to say the least.
According to a statement made by Hammer (via Variety), the actor has dropped out of the production of “Shotgun Wedding,” which is supposed to begin filming in the Dominican Republic and was going to have him co-star opposite Jennifer Lopez. Why did he leave the production? Well, you see, recently there were claims on social media that Hammer was sending sexually explicit DMs with someone on Instagram. Okay, that’s not all that uncommon right? Celebrities always get caught doing that sort of thing. Well, the thing is…these DMs included Hammer allegedly saying that he is “100% a cannibal” and wanted to drink the woman’s blood. Eesh. If you want all the gory details of the allegations, you can read them elsewhere.
Needless to say, these are accusations that might cause anyone, especially an A-list actor like Hammer, to want to take a break and figure things out. And in the case of “Shotgun Wedding,” this includes Hammer deciding its best to stay home and not leave his children to deal with the repercussions.
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“I’m not responding to these bullshit claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic. Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I’m grateful to them for that,” Hammer explained.
A person with the production added, “Armie has requested to step away from the film and we support him in his decision.”
Obviously, from the strong denial, Hammer wants us all to believe the claims are “bullshit.” And to be fair, the validity of the screenshot DMs has come into question. But without any confirmation one way or another, it’s clear the best course of action is for Hammer to take a step back.
Now, all that’s left to figure out is who is going to replace Hamme in the film opposite J-Lo? We’ll just have to wait and see.