Dakota Johnson boldly joked about Armie Hammer’s “cannibalism fantasy” scandal on Thursday while presenting Luca Guadagnino with Sundance’s International Icon Award.
In her speech, the actress reflected on the director’s film “Call Me By Your Name,” starring Hammer and Timothée Chalamet. It premiered at the festival in 2017.
“Sadly, I wasn’t in that one,” she said, drawing a laugh from the audience. “It was unfortunate, Luca had asked me to play the role of the peach, but our schedules conflicted. Thank God, because then I would have been another woman that Armie Hammer tried to eat.”
Playing off the crowd’s reaction – a mixture of shock, cheers and laughs – she added: “It’s been five years since that film premiered here, and Luca hasn’t stopped taking us to exciting places. Who knew cannibalism was so popular?”
Guadagnino’s latest film, “Bones and All” is a romantic drama centering on two cannibals played by Chalamet and Taylor Russell. Johnson collaborated with the director on the 2019 remake of “Suspiria.”
In early 2021, allegations about Hammer’s sex life detailing rape and cannibalism fantasies began circulating on social media. The LAPD launched a sexual assault investigation after one of the women who made claims of violent behavior and text messages came forward. No formal charges were brought against Hammer, who dismissed the claims as “bullsh–t.” He was dropped by his agency WME and exited several projects shortly after.
Discovery+ released a docuseries called “House of Hammer” about the actor and other abuse allegations concerning his famous family in Sept. 2022.
Previously, Johnson – who costarred with Hammer in “The Social Network” and “Wounds” – defended him and other male actor colleagues whose careers had suffered due to abuse allegations. “I never experienced that firsthand from any of those people,” she said regarding Shia LaBeouf, Hammer, and Johnny Depp in a 2021 interview. “I had an incredible time working with them; I feel sad for the loss of great artists.”
“Yeah, cancel culture is such a f–ing downer,” she said in the same interview. “I hate that term.”
