Are You the One? 's Gianna Hammer Alleges She Was 'Drugged' and 'Sexually Assaulted' on the Show
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Gianna Hammer is coming forward with claims that she was "drugged" and "sexually assaulted" on the set of MTV's Are You the One?
In a new interview with The Daily Beast, published Sunday, Hammer — who starred on season 5 of the reality dating series — alleged that she was drugged by production and sexually assaulted by a castmate, whom she does not name.
According to Hammer, 25, the assault occurred during the show's filming in the fall of 2016, causing several other castmates to come over and physically pull her from the bed to get her to safety.
Hammer told the outlet that Lighthearted Entertainment producers did not kick the man out, but allowed him to stay and sleep on a couch and prohibited both him and Hammer from drinking alcohol for the remainder of production, which took place in the Dominican Republic.
Gianna Hammer Instagram Gianna Hammer
She went on to say that she felt "disrespected" after filming wrapped, and alleged that no one from the network or production company contacted her about what she said had happened.
"[I] really thought about it and was like, 'Wow, that was really f---ed up,' " she said. "They should have never left me in an unsafe position. I'm definitely a changed person after it all."
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MTV Gianna Hammer on Are You the One?
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A spokesperson for MTV — who has since taken the season off of streaming platforms — told The Daily Beast in a statement that they "take these issues very seriously and have paused production/casting to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations, the third party production company and further review our internal safety protocols."
Lighthearted Entertainment told the outlet in a statement that they plan to "cooperate with full transparency" when it comes to any investigation, adding, "We are confident that any review will confirm the safety procotols [sic] that we have long had in place on the sets of Are You The One?"
"We deny the allegations made by the former contestant," the production company added. "Throughout the eight seasons of the show, no contestant has reported an incident of sexual assault to Lighthearted."
MTV and Lighthearted Entertainment did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment.
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The mother of one (she and former costar/ex Hayden Weaver share 2½-year-old son August) previously opened up in a series of videos on TikTok about her experience, alleging she was "drugged" and "sexually assaulted."
In her comments to The Daily Beast, Hammer claimed that she was on Zoloft during filming, and that she'd been told not to drink while taking the medication. But according to Hammer, she was given Zoloft first thing in the morning while on the show, under the assumed logic that "it wouldn't really affect me later in the night."
However, Hammer alleged, producers "said that I needed to calm down and that they were going to give me one of my medications" after she got into an argument with a male castmate during one alcohol-fueled party, when she was already intoxicated.
"I know that my castmates said that I kept telling them, 'I'm not supposed to do this when I'm drinking. I'm not supposed to do this when I'm drinking.' They still said it was okay, they said it wasn't a high enough dosage or something. So, I took it," Hammer claimed.
The next morning, Hammer said, she "couldn't remember really anything" and "was super confused" and "super nervous" before three producers of the show asked her whether she'd remembered anything from the previous night, when the alleged drugging and assault took place.
According to Hammer, they insisted "nothing happened" but asked if she wanted the male contestant kicked off the show before "they made this comment, saying, 'He flew all the way out here, we did all this testing for him, he has a perfect match in this house, it would be a lot to send him back, he'd have to spend the rest of the time in a hotel by himself.' "
Hammer told the Daily Beast that she "spent all these years not saying anything while it aired and while it was still fresh in everyone's minds because I was scared. I might as well just come out with it and share my experience."
"[It's] lifted a lot off my shoulders," Hammer added. "I felt like it's not something that I have to carry on my back in secret or feel ashamed that it happened."
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
