Leaked voice notes and "privilege gone wild": What we know about the Armie Hammer documentary.

Content warning: This story includes descriptions of alleged sexual abuse that may be distressing to some readers.

It was January 10, 2021 when Armie Hammer's name first began trending on Twitter. 

At the time, an Instagram account, named House of Effie, shared screenshots of graphic messages alleged to have been sent from the actor's official Instagram account. 

In the messages, which reportedly date back to 2016, Hammer allegedly spoke about drinking blood and described various graphic sex acts, which included sexual references to cannibalism. It sparked a flurry of further allegations, where more alleged victims came forward and ultimately marked the downfall of Hammer's reputation in Hollywood.

There have been numerous exposés, his films and/or roles canned, and he remains the "main suspect in an alleged sexual assault investigation" as noted by the Los Angeles Police Department.

And this week, the trailer for a new docuseries has been released, called House of Hammer. And from a three-minute and 48 seconds trailer, a lot of allegations and revelations have been brought to the surface.

Here's everything we know.

Watch the trailer for House of Hammer. Post continues below.

Video via Discovery+.

From the trailer for Discovery+'s docuseries House of Hammer, we can see that at least three key individuals will feature – two alleged victims and one Hammer family member.

What the docuseries aims to focus on is the Hammer family as a whole. Through a collection of archive material and interviews from family members, the alleged "dark and twisted secrets of the Hammer family come to light".

What we know about the family member interviewed for House of Hammer.

Casey Hammer is the granddaughter of oil tycoon Armand Hammer and the aunt of Armie Hammer. House of Hammer won't be the first time that Casey has levelled serious allegations against her family. 

In 2015 she self-published a book called Surviving My Birthright, and in it, she alleged that her father – Julian Hammer – sexually abused her as a child, and that he was also abusive to others in the family. Casey is now estranged from most of her family. 

In a statement to Deadline, she said: "As a survivor, I want to help empower others to speak up and know that they are heard."

In the trailer, she said that when all the allegations against Armie became public, she was not shocked. 

"You don't just wake up and become this dark, controller, abuser. This behaviour is deep-rooted. On the outside, we were a perfect family, but magnify Succession a million times and it was my family. If you believe in making deals with the devil, the Hammers are top of the totem poll," she said. 

Image: Discovery+ "Every generation in my family has been involved in dark misdeeds and it just gets worse, and worse and worse. I know my grandfather had a dark side. I saw my father's dark side firsthand. And I've seen my brother's dark side – like a monster unleashed. Now it's Armie Hammer."

Casey said that she "refuses to be silenced", saying that behind the money and power lies "a dysfunctional dynasty with its male characters exhibiting all the devastating consequences of privilege gone wild".

What we know about Armie Hammer's family history.

The Hammer family's first brush with scandal was in 1919, when Armie's great-great-grandfather, Dr Julius Hammer, gave the wife of a Russian diplomat an abortion. 

Julius was a Russian immigrant living in the Bronx, New York. The woman he gave an abortion to died days later from complications. As a result, Julius was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and sentenced to three and a half to 12 years in prison.

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Julius' young adult son, Armand Hammer (who Armie Hammer is named after) took over his father's business and had close ties to The Soviet Union, according to biographer Edward Jay Epstein in The Secret History of Armand Hammer.

Armand later married a Russian singer named Olga and together they had a son named Julian – Armie's grandfather and Casey's father.

By the 1950s, Armand had divorced Olga and his second wife, Angela. While married to his third wife, Armand had multiple mistresses, including Martha Kaufman. When Armand's third wife grew suspicious of the affair, Armand had Martha legally change her name to avoid suspicion. The affair lasted over a decade according to Vanity Fair. Per the biography written by Edward Jay Epstein, Martha drove a car with a homing device, used a tapped phone, and submitted to Armand's sexual demands even when they were "extremely humiliating". Armand died in 1990.

As for Armand's son Julian, his daughter Casey has alleged that he sexually abused her when she was a child. 

When Julian was 26 in 1955, he killed a man inside his Los Angeles home over a gambling debt and supposed advances on his wife. Julian claimed self-defence, and charges were dismissed. Newspaper headlines at the time read 'Millionaire's son held on murder charge'.

Julian went on to have kids Jan, Casey and son Michael – who is Armie's father.

The Hammer family. Image: Discovery+ As for Michael, he inherited most of his family's massive fortune. 

Michael at one point was embroiled in New York City's biggest art fraud, with accusations of forgery levelled at the gallery he owned. Ten lawsuits were settled and one case went to trial in 2016. Michael was not personally accused of wrongdoing in the fraud ring.

Insiders claimed to Vanity Fair that Michael keeps a "sex throne" in the Armand Hammer Foundation headquarters, which features the family coat of arms and a cage underneath. 

He is also alleged to have struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, per the Vanity Fair exposé.

Counsel for Michael Hammer and the Armand Hammer Foundation said in response the claims about his sex throne, drug and alcohol use and finances are "absurd". 

What we know about the victims interviewed for House of Hammer.

So far, we know of two women who have come forward with allegations to be aired in House of Hammer – Courtney Vucekovich and Julia Morrison, who share voice notes, Instagram DMs and text messages. 

One text message read aloud by Julia – allegedly from Armie – says: "I have a fantasy about having someone prove their love and devotion and tying them up in a public place at night and making their body free use."

A voice memo allegedly from Hammer to Julia says: "My bet was going to involve showing up at your place and completely tying you up and incapacitating you and being able to do whatever I wanted to every single hole in your body until I was done with you."

Courtney and Julia. Image: Discovery+

Courtney said that in the beginning of her relationship with Armie, it felt like everything was amazing.

"He would say things like 'how are you so perfect, this smart, this beautiful'. But then things changed. He pushes your boundaries a little bit at a time," she said. "You're his. Completely. He said 'I'm 100 per cent a cannibal. Then I get a note saying 'I'm going to bite the f**k out of you'. He acted mad."

She also alleged that she was tied up during some of their encounters, and was "completely immobilised".

"I was just closing my eyes until it ended."

When does House of Hammer air?

Discovery+ will launch the three-episode series in September in the US. Given House of Hammer is a Discovery+ documentary, it will probably air on Foxtel's Discovery+ channel, and will likely be available to stream on Foxtel's streaming app BINGE. A release date in Australia is yet to be announced.

Directors Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs said the current publicly known allegations surrounding Hammer are only "the tip of the iceberg".

"Debauchery. Deceit. Abuse. Addiction. Corruption. Over the course of five generations, the men in the Hammer family have more secrets and scandals than any vault can contain."

Armie Hammer, his attorney or team are yet to issue a statement in regards to the docuseries.

At the time of the initial allegations, Hammer said they were "bulls**t claims", and "spurious online attacks".

Vanity Fair later reported that Hammer had checked into an "in-patient facility for drug, alcohol, and sex issues" for six months. It has also been reported that Hammer's rehab stay was paid for by Robert Downey Jr, who "stepped in to steer the actor toward rehab".

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

Feature: Getty/Discovery+.