Disney Ignores Scandal With Armie Hammer For 'Death On The Nile' Marketing Campaign

The Walt Disney Co. DIS is moving ahead with its theatrical release of “Death on the Nile” by including Armie Hammer in its marketing campaign, despite sexual assault accusations that derailed the actor’s recent career.

What Happened: The studio released a new trailer for the film ahead of its Feb. 11 premiere. The film was shot from September through December 2019, but its release has been delayed six times due to scheduling problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on film exhibition. Due to a contractual obligation, Disney is required to put “Death on the Nile” into theaters and cannot shift its release into a streaming or direct-to-video presentation.

Hammer’s presence in the film created concerns beginning last January when several women came forward accusing the actor of sexual abuse. In March, a woman accused Hammer of raping her in 2017. The Los Angeles Police Department is conducting an ongoing sexual assault investigation into the rape claims, and to date there have been no civil lawsuits filed against the actor.

Hammer has repeatedly and vehemently denied the accusations against him, but the damage has already been done to his career: his talent agency WME dropped him from its roster, and he has also been forced out of the Paramount+ series “The Offer.” Hammer was also removed from the planned films “Shotgun Wedding,” “Billion Dollar Spy” and the Broadway drama “The Minutes.” He is not currently linked to any project.

What Happens Next: Hammer is seen in the new “Death on the Nile” trailer, although he has no dialogue. He has more prominence in the film’s poster, standing between Gal Gadot and Letitia Wright, who has been the subject of a different controversy regarding her comments opposing COVID-19 vaccines.

According to a Variety report, Disney never planned to reshoot Hammer’s role with another actor – a strategy taken by Sony Pictures SONY to remove scandal-plagued Kevin Spacey from the 2017 “All the Money in the World” and replace him with Christopher Plummer – or edit his role down, which would have been tricky as the film is based on an Agatha Christie mystery and any acute editing would have disrupted its tightly-wound plot. It is uncertain whether Hammer will be included in the film’s publicity tour.

This marks the second time this month that Disney has stood by an actor facing a sexual assault charge. The studio included Ansel Elgort in the premiere festivities for “West Side Story” despite being accused by a woman in 2020 of sexual assault, a charge that he denied – no criminal charges or civil lawsuit has results from that accusation.

Photo: Poster art for "Death on the Nile," with Armie Hammer fifth from right in the all-star line-up; courtesy of Disney.