Robert Downey Jr. Paid for Armie Hammer’s Rehab: Report

Armie Hammer all-but-disappeared from Hollywood last year following disturbing allegations of sexual assault, but he apparently found a friend in one star, Robert Downey Jr. Vanity Fair reports that the Iron Man actor, who’s had his own share of controversies, paid for Hammer to spend six months in a rehab facility after news of his scandal broke.

An unnamed source confirmed Downey financed Hammer’s stay at the Florida rehabilitation center the Guest House, a secluded 52-acre estate in Silver Springs that caters to high-profile clients like celebrities and politicians. He completed his stay in December and moved to the Cayman Islands — where his employment as a hotel resort timeshare salesman recently thrust him back into the spotlight.

According to the report, Hammer was so hounded by press in the Caymans that he and his ex-wife, Elizabeth Chambers, flew to Los Angeles with their young children to escape the attention. While in Hollywood, Hammer has been saying at a house owned by Downey and even attended an A.A. meeting in Malibu. An unnamed source added that Downey has been supporting Hammer financially as well.

Hammer is the great grandson of oil tycoon Armand Hammer, though he’s long claimed to be independent from his family’s riches — which may explain his recent gig in the Caribbean. “The reality is he’s totally broke, and is trying to fill the days and earn money to support his family,” a source recently told Variety. 

Hammer’s attorney wouldn’t confirm or deny his employment in the Caymans, but told Vanity Fair, “I just think it’s shitty that, if he is selling timeshares, the media is shaming him for having a ‘normal job.’” Other sources came to the actor’s defense as well, arguing that he’s had a hard life: “Everyone looks at Armie thinking that he’s had some sort of privileged life — and that must mean there were no problems in his youth and everything was peachy keen. But that’s not necessarily the way things go. Just because you come from an upbringing where financial resources are plentiful doesn’t mean life isn’t without problems.”

Representatives for Downey did not respond to Vanity Fair’s request for comment. The actor rose to fame as a child star before facing a series of drug-related arrests in the late ’90s and early 2000s. After getting sober in 2003, he returned to Hollywood thanks to Mel Gibson, who paid Downey’s insurance bond for the 2003 film The Singing Detective. He secured the role of Iron Man in 2008, and has since starred in a number of multi-million dollar Marvel films.

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