Dru Hammer’s life reads like a fairytale: raised in a humble American Christian home, a chance encounter on an airplane sees her married into the Hammer family dynasty, enjoying the bounty of an oil company, meeting royalty, running businesses and raising actor-son Armie Hammer who would become a Hollywood favourite after starring in The Social Network.

Key points

• Dru Hammer’s life reads like a fairytale: raised in a humble American Christian home, a chance encounter on an airplane sees her married into the Hammer family dynasty.
• Her motto when sharing faith in the world of high-flyers was not “to care who anybody is: if they’re important, not important, if they’re 91 or 5 – it doesn’t matter”.
• Listen to the full episode of UNDISTRACTED with guest Dru Hammer in the player above, on the Hope 103.2 app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Things turned though when Dru’s 25-year marriage to Michael Hammer ended after serial infidelity and, more recently, when the House of Hammer documentary aired graphic accusations about Armie’s alleged mistreatment of women and disturbing messages they allegedly exchanged.

While Armie was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, Dru witnessed his career evaporate, family relationships strain and the Hammers having to answer for what the media called years of privilege.

Dru Hammer’s life reads like a fairytale: raised in a humble American Christian home, a chance encounter on an airplane sees her married into the Hammer family dynasty.

“It was devastating,” Dru told Hope 103.2’s UNDISTRACTED podcast.

“[I’d be] at events where people don’t know who I am and they don’t know Armie’s my son, and they bring [the accusations] up talking about ‘that entitled actor’ [and] I just had to handle it.”

For years, as a Christian marrying into a Jewish family, Dru saw herself as an evangelist to people who “had all the material things” but “carried an emptiness” where their minds had limited their engagement with faith.

“There was no real family unit,” Dru said.

“It was completely different to where I came from, so I had to adjust to that.”

Dru’s motto when sharing faith in the world of high-flyers was not “to care who anybody is: if they’re important, not important, if they’re 91 or 5 – it doesn’t matter”.

Dru’s motto when sharing faith was not “to care who anybody is: if they’re important, not important, if they’re 91 or 5 – it doesn’t matter”.

“We are all created to have a relationship with our Creator,” Dru said.

“That’s why a lot of us walk around a third empty, because they’re missing the spiritual part [of body, mind and soul].”

Having raised sons Victor and Armie to share her Christian values, Dru admits it made her relationship with them difficult at times and meant the accusations against Armie were particularly hard to hear.

“Armie’s failures were moral, not criminal,” Dru said. “You can raise your children in the ways of the Lord, but they have to make their own decisions.

“In a strange way this is the best thing that ever happened to our family, because sometimes you have to hit rock bottom for you to really realise what’s important in life.”

Dru’s memoir Hammered is out now.

Listen to the full episode of UNDISTRACTED with guest Dru Hammer in the player above, on the Hope 103.2 app or wherever you get your podcasts.

All photos supplied by Dru Hammer and used with permission.