Armie Hammer Discusses White Privilege and Stan Lee Backlash in New Interview
John F. Trent
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[easyazon_link identifier=”B00G8P1WXK” locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]The Lone Ranger[/easyazon_link] star Armie Hammer recently addressed white privilege in Hollywood and fan reaction to his comments following the death of Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee.
Hammer, who many see as a favorite to become the next Batman, spoke with Britain’s GQ where he explained white privilege noting it took a serious work ethic to get to where he is in his career.
“There are white people who exercise their white privilege with or without knowing it and I would be foolish to sit here and say, ‘Well, that has nothing to do with my career.’ I can’t sit here and say that. But also, people must be aware of the work ethic it takes. I get it. Guys like me have got a lot from being guys like me. Even if white privilege does have anything to do with it, there is a lot of work I put into this.”
He details why he chose not to rely on his family’s wealth. Hammer’s family has done well for themselves in the oil business.
“It was a conversation I had with myself: you can be this person or you cannot. I would rather not. It wasn’t about cutting ties or bonds with my parents or anything like that. It was about strengthening myself.”
The actor also discussed his recent Tweets following the death of Stan Lee. Hammer took to Twitter hours after Lee’s death was announced to denounce celebrities and others who were posting photos of themselves with Stan Lee.
In a now-deleted Tweet he would write, “So touched by all of the celebrities posting pictures of themselves with Stan Lee… no better way to commemorate an absolute legend than putting up a picture of yourself.”
Hammer would be roundly criticized for his approach, but he would double down encouraging fans to post Stan’s work that meant the most to them instead of posting a selfie.
If Stan impacted your life (ie. All of our lives) with his work, post his work that touched you the most. Posting a selfie makes his death about you and how cool you felt taking a picture with him.
— Armie Hammer (@armiehammer) November 12, 2018
Hammer told GQ, “Let me be clear. I do not feel badly for the people that I offended who met Stan Lee once and were capitalising and masking self-promotion as false grief.” He would apologize to fans who had a genuine and long relationship with Lee.
He would then go onto express his frustration with his own millennial generation and their apparent obsession with selfies.
“I am a millennial. You’re right. I totally should. And I can’t say I am not a millennial, but I’m not a millennial. I don’t get it. It doesn’t resonate with me. I don’t know why millennials will go to a wedding and take a picture of themselves on the dance floor and then post it on social media and be like, ‘Congratulations to Sarah and Jeff, so happy for you guys!’ Just what the hell is that? That just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
What do you make of Hammer’s comments on white privilege and his take on how people reacted to Stan Lee’s death? Do you agree with his view on millennials and their apparent obsession with selfies?
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