Armie Hammer's aunt says she wasn't shocked when he was accused of sexual assault: 'You don't just wake up one day and become a monster'

• Armie Hammer's aunt said she was not surprised to learn he had been accused of sexual assault.
• She claimed that generations of men in the family have been mentally, physically, and sexually abusive.

Armie Hammer's aunt says she wasn't shocked when he was accused of sexual assault.

Speaking to Insider, Casey Hammer described years of abuse she says she faced as the sole female heir of the Hammer family's oil fortune.

"To be honest with you I really wasn't surprised or shocked," Casey Hammer told Insider of the sexual assault allegations against Armie Hammer that began to come out in January 2021.

"You don't just wake up one day and become a monster," Casey Hammer said. "It's a learned behavior and again, that's why I wasn't shocked by a lot of what was happening.

"House of Hammer," a new docuseries premiering on September 2 on Discovery+, details generations of abuse allegedly carried out by the men of the Hammer lineage. Casey Hammer said she signed on to the project to "elevate victims and hold men accountable" for their actions.

Casey Hammer said when allegations started to come out against her nephew, she was sad because media reports focused on the salacious claims of cannibalism, not the victims.

"Truly, the focus should have been on them and not making a joke out of what was being accused of," she told Insider.

Lawyers for Armie Hammer did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Allegations of misconduct and abuse against Armie Hammer

In January 2021, an Instagram account called @houseofeffie started to share screenshots of messages claiming they were from Armie Hammer.

The messages, which remain unverified by media outlets including Insider, detail fantasies including drinking blood, sexual domination, and even acts of cannibalism.

@houseofeffie went on to share other stories purportedly from different women, who they said had come forward with their own experiences and screenshots of their conversations with Hammer.

Allegations continued to pour in and by May 2021, Armie Hammer had checked into a treatment center for substance abuse and sex issues.

The same year, the Los Angeles Police Department launched a nine-month investigation into allegations against Armie Hammer.

The Hammers were serial abusers, his aunt alleged

When Armie Hammer was born, Casey Hammer said he was like the "prince."

"He was the heir apparent. He was next in line after my brother," she told Insider. "It was one of those things where the men in the family ... they could do no wrong."

In "House of Hammer," Casey Hammer said Armie Hammer was fawned over by their family as the next in line to the family fortune.

In episode 2 of the three-part series, Casey Hammer launches into details of the alleged abuse dating back to her grandfather, the billionaire CEO oil tycoon of Occidental Petroleum, Armand Hammer.

Casey Hammer alleged that Armand Hammer — and the next three generations of Hammer men including her father, Julius Hammer; her brother, Michael Hammer; and her nephew, Armie Hammer — were sexually, physically, and mentally abusive.

"It's crazy what was happening behind closed doors, as opposed to what was out in public," Casey Hammer said.

Casey Hammer detailed memories of her father hitting her mother and of her grandfather emotionally abusing the men and women around him.

Casey Hammer told Insider she remembered being 12 years old and holding up a phone book to protect herself as her father shot at her.

She alleged that her father held a .357 Magnum up to her temple to see if she was possessed by aliens.

But the mental abuse was no easier to handle, she said.

"A lot of what people focus on is the sexual abuse, the physical, which is, horrific. But also the mental abuse is a big component because it's like mind control. It's like brainwashing. The scars run so deep. And it's something that you live with the rest of your life," Casey Hammer said.

When the family was together, she said, they all had to pretend they loved each other and act as if the abuse wasn't happening.

"It was always out in public," Casey Hammer said of their family gatherings. "It was always what my grandfather wanted to portray. We had to be picture-perfect. Image was everything to him."

She claims Armand Hammer "controlled the narrative" of their lives "and if you messed up at all, there were repercussions, there were threats, there was punishment, there was being cut off," she added.

She said who's left of the family — she, Michael, Armie, and his brother, Victor — are not in close contact anymore.

"It's best we just went our separate ways," Casey Hammer said.

She added that growing up without social media clouded her view of how family life was supposed to be.

She continued: "You just think 'this is the way rich people act.' "