When The Social Network star Armie Hammer took over Hollywood, it was with a family that had a chequered history of abuse. It’s all been documented in a new docuseries, House of Hammer, which is premiering this month on Discovery+.
Hammer’s great-grandfather was a Russian immigrant who was imprisoned for performing an abortion on a Soviet diplomat’s wife. He was a friend to Presidents Kennedy and Richard Nixon, Prince Charles and Russia’s top chiefs.
Armand Hammer
Armie Hammer isn’t just an actor; he’s a part of a family that has been in the public eye for a long time, and their dark history has recently been revealed. It’s a story that spans several generations and includes accusations of abuse, drug addiction, and orgies.
His grandfather, Armand Hammer was a business tycoon who built his fortune through the company Occidental Petroleum. His wealth also allowed him to travel around the world and meet important leaders.
He met Lenin personally, and was a fervent supporter of the Soviet Union. He also inherited the Knoedler Gallery, which was one of New York’s most prestigious art galleries.
According to Casey Hammer’s book Surviving My Birthright, her father Julian was abusive toward his wife, and he even killed a man over a gambling debt in 1955. He was also accused of stealing money from his wife, and all charges were dropped after he sent $50,000 in cash to an attorney.
Julius Hammer
Hammer’s father was a Russian immigrant who ran five drugstores in the Bronx. He rubbed elbows with Vladimir Lenin and Leonid Brezhnev, and he was one of the leading Communist Party of the United States members, according to Vanity Fair.
He was also a medical doctor, per Vanity Fair, and he performed an illegal abortion on a woman who later died. That led to him being convicted of first-degree manslaughter, which he had to serve prison time for.
After serving time, Hammer decided to become a businessman and used his natural skills to help the Soviet Union in its famine crisis. He helped the country purchase a surplus army field hospital, secured trade of Russian furs and caviar for wheat, and secured concessions to mine asbestos in Siberia.
He eventually returned to the U.S., where he accumulated innumerable pieces of art treasure that the Romanov family once owned. He donated these to a number of museums, and he also collected art from a variety of masters, and sold it to collectors through retail sales in department stores.
Julian Hammer
Julian Hammer is the eldest son of Armand Hammer, a wealthy American oil tycoon. His family history includes numerous scandals, according to House of Hammer, a new Discovery+ docuseries about the clan.
In 1955, Julian killed a man over a gambling debt. But his father paid off the authorities to keep the Hammer family image clean, according to Vanity Fair.
Earlier this year, the Hammers made headlines for a series of scandals. The Discovery+ docuseries, titled House of Hammer, focused on many of the family’s alleged crimes, including Julian’s 1955 alleged murder.
In addition, Casey Hammer, a young woman who came forward decades after her abuse, reveals that she was sexually abused by her father in the series. She also recollects having blood stains on her clothes and being woken up by a gun being pressed against her face.
Michael Hammer
Michael Hammer is the eldest son of Julian Armand Hammer and the grandson of industrialist Armand Hammer. He inherited the family empire including the oil company Occidental Petroleum, Hammer Productions, Hammer International Foundation, and Hammer Galleries, as well as his grandfather’s New York-based commercial art gallery Knoedler.
But he allegedly had his own twisted sexual fantasies that included BDSM and cannibalism. He was accused of rape and violence by a woman named Effie in 2021.
He was blacklisted from acting jobs and had to sell timeshares in the Cayman Islands after his scandal broke, sources said.
The Hammer family has a history of scandal and abuse that spans five generations. It’s no surprise that the latest docuseries focuses on their dark secrets and alleged corruption.
