Elizabeth Chambers is Armie Hammer’s ex-wife. They were growing apart in 2018-2019, and he had been cheating on Elizabeth for years, and then they formally separated in 2020, during the pandemic. Post-separation, Hammer went full-throttle into a bender of BDSM sexual escapades and emotionally abusive relationships. Chambers got blamed for some of it, or at least questions were asked about what she knew and when. Personally, at this point, I don’t really care. She divorced him for a reason, and we can all see what an abusive pig he is. I do sort of have a problem with Elizabeth’s Elle piece though – the tone is definitely off, for me. She wants to say that she’s moved on, she’s in love with someone else, let’s talk about her new bakeries, etc. But she also wants sympathy, or to center herself in her ex-husband’s abuse of multiple women? As I said, there are tonal problems. Some highlights from Elle:
Falling in love with a 26-year-old “European”: “I’m in love. I’m not taking any bullsh-t from anyone. You stand up for what you deserve, for what you know is right.” When Chambers is not in the kitchen, she’s with her 26-year-old European boyfriend, who works as a physical therapist in the Cayman Islands. They have been together for over a year, and she calls him “a really understanding” person. “With my life, you have to be. It’s a sh-t show!” They are “so in love,” she adds, but act “completely platonic if the kids ever see us together, because I don’t think it’s in their best interest to see their mom dating someone while they’re still processing divorce.”
Things started falling apart in her marriage around 2016-17: “Marriage is always going to be difficult, and, as with any relationship, you go through a process. Especially if you throw success and fame into the mix; it just becomes more magnified.” Chambers doesn’t talk about her ex’s proclivities or their own sex life. She does tell me that “boundaries are everything” in a relationship. “[Over time] your partner is learning things about themselves.They’re growing, you’re growing; you hope that you’re growing together.”
They were in therapy for most of their marriage: The couple saw famed psychotherapist and relationship specialist Esther Perel, host of the popular podcast Where Should We Begin?, which explores sex and intimacy issues. “[Esther] always said heartbreak is literally worse than a heroin addiction, and I think about that a lot.”
The 2020 separation: “My heart was broken in nine million pieces, and I still drove him to the airport… You can give, you can love, you can be there for someone, but you also need to hold people accountable for their actions. The dissolution of my family was literally my biggest fear of my whole life. You’re building something, right? You’re weaving a beautiful tapestry, and the last thing you want is for a knife to come and rip the tapestry in half.”
Everything started coming out about Armie: “I was learning things as the public was. I was like, ‘There are no words. What the f–k?’”
Rebuilding her life: “The days of putting all your eggs in his basket and then being left holding nothing are gone. No, no. There are so many things you can do: Advocate for yourself. Learn. Start an Etsy, I don’t care. Start doing whatever it is that fulfills you.”
She supports her ex’s recovery: “I support Armie through his journey and I always will. All I’ve ever wanted is for him to be sober, healthy, and happy. And he is that. He’s really present when he’s with the kids, and that’s all I can hope for. All you want is for your children to have two solid parents, right? That’s always the goal, so anything I can do to support that, I will.”
It’s hard to believe, from the way she frames this, that Elizabeth was surprised in 2021 when everything started coming out about Armie. The stuff about seeing a sex therapist for much of their marriage, the talk about boundaries… my gut tells me that she’s feigning surprise at “learning” all of that stuff about Hammer in 2021. Now, I’m not saying she knew everything nor was she responsible for what Hammer did to other women. I’m saying that Elizabeth wasn’t surprised in 2021, when everything started coming out. I think she already had a very good idea about her husband’s whole deal for years. And starting all over with a 26-year-old? Hm.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Elizabeth Chambers attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Celebrating the 92nd Annual Academy Awards hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California © H Wise/jpistudios.com,Image: 563527602, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: jpistudios.com / JPI Studios / Avalon
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- Actress Elizabeth Chambers arrives at The Women’s Cancer Research Fund’s An Unforgettable Evening Benefit Gala 2020 held at the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on February 27, 2020 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 563788411, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289 – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
Heartbreak is not worse than heroin addiction.
Her privilege is definitely showing with that comment.
That was the first thing that leaped out at me too. What an awful, tone deaf, entitled thing to say. If it does actually come from her therapist, then that’s also problematic in that it’s enabling this privileged distorted BS…
Well Esther Perel is a hack so I imagine that her advice would be pretty awful!
I love Esther Perel! Her TedTalk on unfaithful partners is amazing. I think she is probably a great therapist but hey, not every relationship is salvageable.
@smegmoria
Yes, that statement is idiotic. As someone who was formerly married to a heroin and cocaine addict, I would not wish that hell on ANYONE!!
To me, she sounds like someone who started therapy, found the answer to one question, found a mantra she liked, and said “I’m good”. There’s a lot of using the “right” words in ways that don’t seem very deep or thoughtful.
This is exactly what I was thinking.
Honestly, Elizabeth strikes me as someone who didn’t care too much what Armie was doing for awhile as long as it didn’t blow back on her. When it started to reflect on her is when she pulled the plug. She sounds pretty shallow like that.
Exactly, and I think that’s why they’ve both agreed to her ‘story’ about just finding out as the public was. She doesn’t want any of his private sexual preferences to reflect onto her as the person who was his sexual partner for years. I don’t blame her for that. I can’t imagine anyone wanting their sexual experiences made public. (Unless it’s non consensual as Armie’s accusers have said of course)
Sounds like she might still be in love with him.
I remember reading their interviews when he was just getting famous and it’s obvious she was crazy about him. I think they were both seriously in love (he wept at their wedding and you can see it in their photos) but that guy is just disturbed and fame gave him unlimited opportunities to act out his sick fantasies. Towards the end they were probably just faking it for the cameras when they were falling apart. I don’t believe, as upthread poster says, that she was okay with him cheating and doing whatever. I think she’s genuinely heartbroken and further, she’s not responsible for what he he did to those women. But she is not likeable and exposes her kids on social media.
I wanna give Elizabeth some slack here because, her kids will read this eventually and I don’t she wants to be the one to bad mouth their father. They will learn who Armie is on their own.
She leaked a lot of stuff against him to the media though. Like stuff about him having an affair with Lily James, etc.
I absolutely hate the “oh so and so is just mommy’s (or daddy’s) friend” BS. Kids aren’t dumb and if you think your kids aren’t emotionally ready for you to date again, then don’t. Or at the very least don’t involve that person in their lives. I just think lying to your children is rarely the healthiest choice.
I think she should be able to date if SHE is ready, but just keep them away from the kids.
She’s loaded. She can afford childcare so that she can date a guy and NOT have them around her kids until they are ready.
40 years old with 2 young kids in a relationship with a 26 years old.. Sounds like she is not very mature herself.
What’s with the way she’s posed in the orange dress?
I honestly don’t know what to say about these two. I cannot imagine dealing with a person like Armie as a spouse and on top of that having children with him. She may be in the same vein as Kate Middleton? Was willing to look the other way for some of his bullshit but when she saw how horrible he was she actually couldn’t anymore?
The Hammer’s hated Elizabeth and wanted she and Armie to stop seeing each other. Armie continued to date and eventually marry her because his family said no. Just like when he dropped out of school to pursue acting and he was cut off. He just didn’t like being told what to do. I think she loved Armie and also loved how the family name opened doors for her. She didn’t start using her married name until she started getting television spots and other media. Then she hunkered down in The Caymans post pandemic and the kids are still close to that side of the family. It would not surprise me if money or property exchanged hands bc she ain’t even about Texas or Colorado ( where her family is) anymore.
I don’t know, she sounds vain and shallow, but not malicious: it’s one thing to accept that your husband is a cheater, and another to discover he might be a rapist.
I think this interview, and her insistence on wishing him well so he can be a sober co-parent, is just piggybacking on his redemption tour – she probably doesn’t want her kids to be known as the children of *that* A. Hammer, and she’s doing her part to bury the scandal.
This was the first thing I thought of when I read her comment, this was to help his image and his comeback.
She was better off, saying nothing.
I’m sorry, but her weird insistence on piggybacking on his “fame” to self-promote (she also had a weird focus piece in The Cut a week or two ago about subcutaneous free hyaluronic acid injections) just rubs me the wrong way. She comes across as tone-deaf, selfish, and immature. I’m not trying to silence anyone who has a story to tell, but be the hero your kids need because dad won’t (or can’t? IDK if he gets that pass.)
Also I will never forget the article from several years ago when the studios were actively trying to Make Armie Happen where their toddler son was SUCKING ON ARMIE’S TOE in the reporter’s presence and neither of them thought that was weird or off-putting or needed to be addressed. All of you, go away and stop…this.