Surviving My Birthright

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Now, for the first time, Casey Hammer will tell not just her story, but the definitive family history, leaving no stone unturned,” read a statement on the series, per Deadline. “With new unfolding revelations and present-day consequences, this mini-series will provide audiences with a riveting journey into a family where reputation is everything and where things are never how they appear.” Her Family Has A Long History Of Scandals

In the end, I felt like this book was more for the writer than the reader. It may have been therapeutic for Casey, but, without ever delving into any one subject deeper than she does, I felt like I didn’t get out of it what I was hoping to, if anything at all. Maybe she is dealing with the same with her therapy? Maybe she gets to a point, but can’t handle breaking through because of the pain or humility? Casey's story is incredibly important and I'm glad she was brave enough to share it. A lot of people weren't happy about her exposing the sins of the Hammer family, especially her brother Michael. I continuously want to scream where are the details for this journey that she wants us to believe she has taken ! Dr. Julius’ son, Armand Hammer, took part in Allied Drug. He moved to the then-Soviet Union, married a Russian singer, and had a son – Julian. In the 1950s, Armand divorced the singer, relocated to Los Angeles, married a wealthy woman named Frances Barrett Tolman, and invested her money into Occidental Petroleum. This company would eventually make the family rich beyond its dreams.Casey Hammer, in her self-published 2015 book Surviving My Birthright, alleges that Julian also sexually abused her when she was a child, and that Julian was abusive to others in the family. This book was not as expected story-wise, I bought it after watching the Armie Hammer documentary. It was described as telling the story of an entire family’s habits being passed down. Instead, it was about stuffed animals and how unfair, and badly done by she was for not being given a Mercedes and access to unlimited cash, but then in the next breath, how she had million dollar weddings (three of them). Armie Hammer’s recent controversy is not the first for the family. Armie’s great-great grandfather Dr. Julius Hammer was convicted of first-degree manslaughter after the wife of a Russian diplomat he gave an abortion to died, and Julian, the son of Armand Hammer – a wealthy industrialist with ties to the Soviet Union who palled around with Prince Charles – killed a man inside his Los Angeles home over a gambling debt.

Her time line is a jumbled mess, which made it confusing for an idiot like myself. I felt uncomfortable anytime she brought up not getting her share of the Hammer family money after the deaths of her grandfather and father. It reminded me about how people said that Mommie Dearest was Christina Crawford's bitter revenge fantasy after finding out she was cut from Joan's will. For me, that's the biggest problem with this book, she mentions it several times, how many people will read this and think she's a liar and only wrote this book for the money and that embarrassing her family is just an added bonus. Casey Hammer, who is estranged from most of her family and works as a kitchen designer at a San Diego Home Depot, said,“As a survivor I want to help empower others to speak up and know that they are heard.” There are parts of this story that are very hard to read. Casey experienced and witnessed absolutely horrible abuse and violence. Her whole life, she seems desperate to earn the affection and attention of her parents and grandfather, with little success. The depictions of drugs, physical violence or threats of it, brandishing of guns, rape, and more were wild. Yet in the public eye, the family presented itself as a philanthropist with a loving and stable family. Casey has not hesitated in revealing the dark side of her family, In a 2021 report by Vanity Fair, she exposed Hammer's father, Michael Hammer, and his mindset of a teenage boy and how he had a sex throne in the Armand Hammer Foundation Office. In a self-published 2015 book, 'Surviving My Birthright,' Casey also accused her father Julian of sexually assaulting her when she was a child and projecting the same behavior toward other members of the family. Casey Hammer, Armie Hammer's aunt, exposes the Hammer Family and their dark secrets in 'House of Hammer' amid sexual assault allegations on Hammer (YouTube/Discovery Plus)

She Sued Her Grandfather’s Estate

I don’t think that anybody would be interested in reading this book just for the morbid curiosity of entering the Hammer’s family intimacy. People read this kind of books because they (we) find and intrinsic identification with the story.

I didn't even know who Armand Hammer was until I watched the documentary House of Hammer. I couldn't believe the perversity that was passed down by the men in that family. One of the journalists that was on the documentary mentioned discovering Casey's book. Casey herself was on the documentary and I was astounded by what she had been through.No, I don't want the gory details of her abuse, but what I wanted were more stories of the chaos that made up her childhood. Like the story about her father's crazy ex girlfriend who tore his house up, and tried to kill Casey while wearing a bed sheet like some kind of halloween ghost and the time her brother and father got into a very public fight over her brother's girlfriend.