Armie Hammer Addresses Casey Affleck "Double Standard" Remarks

"While attempting to be part of the solution, I unintentionally made myself part of the problem, for which I am truly sorry."

Armie Hammer is addressing and apologizing for the comments he made about fellow actor Casey Affleck in a recent cover story in The Hollywood Reporter.

"I would like to sincerely apologize to Casey and his family for my recent comments about him in my THR interview," the Call Me by Your Name star says in an exclusive statement. "Without knowing the facts about the civil lawsuits at issue (which I now understand were settled), I misspoke. I conflated sexual harassment cases with a criminal case involving sexual assault charges.”

In the Nov. 20 THR profile, Hammer, 35, called out the Manchester by the Sea star for his alleged sexual harassment of two female crewmembers on the set of I'm Still Here in 2010. Hammer pointed to what he called a "double standard" in Hollywood because Affleck, 42, won a best actor Oscar while Nate Parker, who directed The Birth of a Nation (co-starring Hammer), was in "directors jail" due to a sexual assault case that occurred when Parker was a college student at Penn State in 1999. The resurfaced accusations sank Parker's chances at Oscar nominations for his 2016 film, which had been predicted to be an awards season favorite.

But now Hammer is drawing a distinction between Parker and Affleck. “The cases in which Casey was involved were not criminal and instead involved civil claims from his 2010 movie I’m Still Here,” Hammer tells THR in the statement. “While intending to make a social comment about double standards in general, I mistakenly compared reports of prior, public civil allegations that never proceeded to trial with a criminal case that was fully tried. I understand now that this was a poor comparison, which I deeply regret making."

In the THR profile, Hammer also suggested he knew who was behind the resurfacing of Parker’s college rape accusations. The timing of the headlines "was orchestrated for sure," Hammer said. "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. I've been told who did it — by several people.” Hammer continued: "[Parker] had one incident — which was heinous and atrocious — but his entire life is affected in the worst possible way. And the other guy won the highest award you can get as an actor. It just doesn't make sense."

In the new statement, Hammer makes clear he isn’t pointing the finger at Affleck or his representatives. "I also didn't mean to insinuate, nor do I believe, that Casey or anyone from his camp had anything to do with leaked information that took place during the press for Birth of a Nation," he says. "I respect Casey’s work, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson about the need to be more accurate with disseminating information, especially in this age of instantaneous, unchecked communication. While attempting to be part of the solution, I unintentionally made myself part of the problem, for which I am truly sorry."