Following Armie Hammer’s disavowal of his new movie “Citizen Vigilante,” Whoopi Goldberg defended his purported shock over the final cut of the film on Thursday morning. She quickly explained to her co-hosts on “The View” that it’s not at all unrealistic that he believed he was making a different movie.
“Citizen Vigilante” is a hard-right thriller directed by Uwe Boll, in which Hammer plays a man who targets immigrants and foreigners. According to a recent report from Puck, when Hammer finally saw the movie, he was apparently unhappy and moved to tears (not the good kind).
Previous reporting noted that Hammer was only sent a 50-page outline of the script before signing on, prompting the hosts of “The View” to ask Whoopi if that was even possible on Thursday.
“Yeah, it’s very possible,” she returned bluntly.
Still, host Alyssa Farah Griffin was skeptical of Hammer’s about-face, considering the past filmography of Boll, and lines from the character that Hammer did see and read. But, Whoopi was quick to defend that too.
“Yeah, but he’s an actor,” she said. “He’s an actor, that’s what we do. We play problematic people.”
To refresh everyone’s memories, the hosts explained that Hammer’s career effectively came to a halt in 2021, after he was accused by three separate women of sexual and emotional abuse. His marriage ended, he was dropped by his talent agency and his publicist parted ways with him.
Host Sunny Hostin immediately noted that no criminal charges were ever filed, due to lack of sufficient evidence, prompting Whoopi to add that it didn’t matter, Hammer’s reputation and career were done.
“And so, when people don’t hire you, and when you can’t get work, and make a living, you take whatever you can get,” she said. “And he’s an actor! I, you know, having lived through this kind of insanity when someone decides that you said what the people said you said, and they cancel you, and it turns out that it didn’t happen that way, doesn’t matter! Because people have already made up their mind about you.”
Farah Griffin reiterated that she was still confused by Hammer’s outright disavowal of the film, which earned another reminder from Whoopi.
“You know I always say to you guys, movies are often made in the cutting room.”
“The View” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.