Following a series of leaked screen-grabs of dark, intensely sexual, and often cannibalism-themed text messages sent by Armie Hammer, the Call Me by Your Name actor has officially come out as a cannibal. A statement released by Hammer on Twitter said the following:

 “I am a cannibal. I want to eat people. I’m ready to be myself, and I won’t apologize for that. In America today, you can be cancelled for stuttering while ordering a Subway sandwich. Your reputation can literally be destroyed for something like that. I don’t think it’s right. I refuse to let Twitter critics control me. I am proud to be a cannibal.” 

This comes as quite a shocking move by the actor after he vehemently denied the validity of the screenshots, in which he claimed to be “100% a cannibal,” and made egregious comments such as “I want to eat you. Fuck. That’s scary to admit. I’ve never admitted that before.” Many on Twitter praised Hammer’s statement, commending his coming out as “heroic” and claiming that he “really owned the libs this time” .

 Not all were quite so supportive of his coming out, though. While one woman who came forward about the actor’s conduct claimed that he wanted to “barbecue and eat” her, many others claimed their sexual encounters were non-consensual. Much of the controversy surrounding the screenshots were not actually concerning the morals of being a cannibal, but the essential question of consent during sexual activity, in whatever kinky form it may take. This important distinction, however, seems to be lost on Hammer (and those supporting him on Twitter). In the same statement in which he came out, he also announced a new twitch channel in which he will eat human flesh for viewers in the style of streaming known as “Mukbang,” where viewers watch the broadcasters consume large quantities of food. Despite the lingering consent-related controversy and questions of character, Hammer’s Twitch stream has amassed nearly 10,000 subscribers in the 24 hours since he announced his new channel, an unprecedented success in the streaming world. You can view this disturbing (but highly entertaining) stream at twitch.tv/ArmieEatsPeople.