Josh Duhamel slammed for sending email to Armie Hammer ‘wishing him luck’ following abuse allegations

Josh reached out to Hammer after replacing him in a film (Picture: Rex)

Josh Duhamel is being slated by fans after revealing he emailed Armie Hammer when he took over his role following sexual abuse allegations.

Police in LA recently launched an investigation into Hammer, following an allegation of rape made against him. This came after a number of women alleged that the star was emotionally and physically abusive towards them. Hammer has denied any wrongdoing.

However, he stepped down from the film Shotgun Wedding, which also stars Jennifer Lopez, with Duhamel eventually taking over the role.

Opening up in a chat with Man About Town recently, Duhamel recalled a message he sent to The Social Network actor and admitted it’s not how he liked to get roles.

Speaking to the publication, Duhamel said: ‘I know Armie a little bit, and when I knew I was gonna get the part, I emailed him and said, “Listen, I know you are going through it right now, I don’t like to get roles like this and I just wanted to let you know that I am thinking about you and good luck, get through it”.

‘He emailed me right back and said thank you so who knows, hopefully he gets through it.’

The star has been slammed by fans (Picture: Broadimage/REX)

Fans have reacted, and while some have remained supportive others have slated the actor and accused him of ‘sympathising’ with Hammer.

Responding to the reports on Twitter, one quipped it was ‘a very normal thing to say to someone with abuse allegations,’ as another wrote: ‘Should’ve stayed in the drafts’.

Another chimed on Friday: ‘Josh Duhamel really about to get fully exposed and all for saying he feels bad for Armie Hammer. Fumbled his own damn bag.’

Perez Hilton felt his sentiment was poorly-worded, adding on Twitter: ‘I would not have said what he did! That was poorly-worded!’

In January Hammer stepped down from Shotgun Wedding, and at the time said he would not be addressing the ‘bulls**t claims’ raised against him.

However two months later, in a press conference alongside high-profile US lawyer Gloria Allred, a woman, known as Effie, alleged she was ‘violently’ assaulted for four hours, with Hammer reportedly hitting her head against a wall.

The 24-year-old said she first met Hammer on Facebook in 2016 and they had an on-off relationship between 2016 and 2020.

Hammer denies the allegations (Picture: AFP)

Hammer’s legal team issued a statement to Metro.co.uk, calling the allegation ‘outrageous’, and shared an alleged screenshot of messages between them.

They said: ‘Effie’s own correspondence with Mr Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations. As recently as July 18, 2020, [she] sent graphic texts to Mr Hammer telling him what she wanted him to do to her.

‘Mr Hammer responded making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her. The screenshot below is just one of hundreds [she] sent to Mr Hammer.

‘It was never Mr. Hammer’s intention to embarrass or expose her fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference. With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight.’

They added: ‘From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with [her] — and every other sexual partner of his for that matter — have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory. [Her] attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.’

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Amid the allegations, Hammer was dropped from The Billion Dollar Spy and left projects The Offer and Broadway show The Minutes, saying he needed to ‘focus on myself and my health for the sake of my family’.

He has also been dropped by his agent and publicist.

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