Armie Hammer Says He Was Sexually Abused at 13 and Attempted Suicide Following Misconduct Allegations

How does his race have ANYTHING to do with this, you racist dipshit?

That was my initial instinct, and on balance I'm still inclined to believe he's guilty of the crimes he's been accused of, and that being the case, there really is NO excuse for his actions (and I can't help thinking he's making these statements in order to somehow 'mitigate' the harm he's done).

That said, as someone who's been on the receiving end of a false allegation (albeit, NOT one that was linked to violence or sexual misconduct), and considered suicide as a result, and was sexually assaulted by another kid when I was 11/nearly 12, I almost feel like a hypocrite.

Yes, Armie Hammer is a very privileged, super-rich white man, but I don't need to have been born with a silver spoon to empathise with him with respect to (a) being sexually assaulted as a boy, and (b) feeling suicidal after a (in my case, false) allegation, but of course, that's assuming he's telling the truth about both things.

Also, despite what happened to me, I never used that as an excuse to ever sexually molest, harass, assault or prey on anyone else.

You said it perfectly.

I'm no fan of Meghan Markle or Armie Hammer, but I do have some sympathy and understanding for individuals who've talked about wanting to consider suicide, after being turned into a pariah, *whoever* they may be.

When I was 14, I was *falsely* accused of making certain offensive and derogatory statements. I don't know what my accuser was playing at, since I had little interaction with them, and had never done them any harm (fwiw, their accusation was that I'd badmouthed *someone* else, as well as an entire category of people, rather than themselves per se), but everyone else seemed to believe them (sans proof, and based only on their word), and I was turned into a pariah, no matter how much I protested that my accuser was in fact lying. Anyway, since no one would listen to me, and I felt helpless, I threatened to commit suicide as a means of trying to get them off my back. Suffice to say, it was not a good move, and I paid a hefty price for my threat (which I personally think was hugely unfair, seeing as I was only a child).

I don't know if my situation is directly analogous to Markle or Hammer's, but I do see some parallels. Assuming either of them were falsely accused of the stuff cited against them, then I 100% understand why they might feel inclined to say "I felt suicidal" (even if it's not genuine, and it very possibly is; simply as a means of getting people off their backs, I get why someone would say "Leave me alone because I'm feeling suicidal"). I've been there, and although I'll admit I was a child at the time, and I don't think I'd behave the same way now, as an adult, I do understand the pressure a person feels when they're turned into a pariah, and why they may either feel genuinely suicidal, or feel inclined to threaten suicide as a means of getting the world off their back.