Dakota Johnson Makes Joke About Armie Hammer Cannibalism Allegations While Presenting Award at Sundance

Dakota Johnson Armie Hammer
Chris Council/Getty Images for Audi

The actress was presenting an award to 'Call Me By Your Name' director Luca Guadagnino, who worked with the actor.

Dakota Johnson made a pretty daring joke at Sundance Institute's Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance, presented by IMDbPro, in Park City, Utah, on Thursday.

During the event, which kicked off the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Johnson presented the icon award to Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino. Johnson worked with Guadagnino on A Bigger Splash and Suspiria, and praised him as "the epitome of international icon."

The 33-year-old actress later brought up the 51-year-old filmmaker's movie, Call Me By Your Name, starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer. "Sadly, I wasn't in that one. It was unfortunate," she said, joking that she could have played the role of a peach, the piece of fruit that Chalamet’s character, Elio, pleasures himself with and leaves the remains on his desk. Hammer’s character, Oliver, finds the peach but doesn't eat it in the movie -- though his character does so in the novel, which the film is based on.

"Luca had asked me to play the role of the peach but our schedules conflicted," Johnson said before making a joke alluding to the cannibalism allegations surrounding Hammer. "Thank God though because then I would've been another woman that Armie Hammer tried to eat."

Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for IMDb
Dakota Johnson speaks onstage during Sundance Institute's 'Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival at The Basin Recreation Fieldhouse on Jan. 19, 2023 in Park City, Utah. - Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for IMDb

She also brought up Guadagnino's recent cannibal love story, Bones and All, which stars Chalamet. "It's been five years since [Call Me By Your Name] premiered [at Sundance] and Luca hasn't stopped taking us to exciting places. Who knew cannibalism was so popular?" Johnson quipped.

While Johnson seemed to be making light of the cannibal headlines surrounding Hammer, she previously defended him along with a few of her other former controversial male co-stars, including Johnny Depp and Shia LaBeouf. Hammer and Johnson starred in the 2010 film The Social Network together.

"I never experienced that firsthand from any of those people," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. "I had an incredible time working with them; I feel sad for the loss of great artists. I feel sad for people needing help and perhaps not getting it in time. I feel sad for anyone who was harmed or hurt. It’s just really sad. I do believe that people can change."

The cannibal allegations against Hammer surfaced through alleged direct Instagram messages of his that went viral in January 2021. The 36-year-old actor has denied any wrongdoing and has said, through his lawyer, that all of his relationships were consensual.

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