Armie Hammer Slams Academy For 'Double Standards' on Nate Parker and Casey Affleck

When asked by The Hollywood Reporter about his controversial film, 2017's Birth of a Nation, Armie Hammer didn't beat around the bush: Director Nate Parker was treated unfairly. Not, he clarified, because Parker shouldn't have been punished for the 1999 rape allegation. But because Casey Affleck, who settled two sexual harassment lawsuits in 2010 and still won the Academy Award for Manchester By The Sea, didn't get the same punishment.

Last year, Variety published an interview with the brother of a woman who accused Parker of being involved in a gang rape in 1999. According to the brother, his sister never got over the alleged rape and committed suicide in 2012. Hammer, who played Samuel Turner in Parker's film, said the timing of the story "was orchestrated for sure."

"There was another person in the industry, who had a competing film for the Academy Awards, who decided to release all of the phone records and information," Hammer said. "I've been told who did it—by several people."

Hammer drew the line at naming names, but he did say who he thought deserved more punishment for his alleged sins: Casey Affleck.

"Nate had the stuff in his past, which is heinous and tough to get beyond," Hammer said. "But that was when he was 18, and now he's in directors jail. At the same time, the guy who went and won an Academy Award has three cases of sexual assault against him." When asked if he was referring to Affleck, Hammer confirmed that he was.

The Call Me By Your Name actor had his details slightly mixed up—Affleck settled two lawsuits for sexual harassment and misconduct, but not assault. Still, one of Hammer's points holds: Affleck did win the Academy Award, while Birth of Nation saw no nominations, though both films were dealing with controversy.

When Hollywood Reporter's Seth Abramovitch pointed out the difference between the two cases, Hammer replied, "I'm not saying Nate should not have been in trouble. I'm saying that they got in different levels of trouble. And that's the disparity. It's like there are two standards for how to deal with someone who has this kind of issue in their past, you know?"

It's a precarious time for anyone in Hollywood to be even kind of, sort of defending any of the many powerful men accused of sexual harassment and assault. Last week Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston came under fire when, in response to whether Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein deserve a second chance, he told the BBC, "Let's leave it open." Cranston preceded this comment by stating it would take tremendous time and effort on Weinstein and Spacey's part, but that's not the part that went viral.

Hammer probably doesn't need to worry about the wrath of the Internet at this time. Lucky for him, we're all still smiling over that "Dancing Armie Hammer" meme.