Marvel Star Jeremy Renner he faces charges that he sent unwanted “intimate” photos and videos to a Chinese director and threatened to “call ICE” after she “summoned him privately” about alleged misconduct.
Director and artist Yi Zhou, documentary film director Disney Chronicles featuring Renner, made the allegations in a series of Instagram posts and an in-depth interview Daily mail. Zhou, 38, claims she had a personal and professional relationship with Renner, 54, that left her fearing for her safety.
“Mr. Renner first contacted me directly in June, sending personal and intimate photographs of himself, behavior that he has demonstrated in the past, according to public reports,” she wrote. on Instagram. She claims Renner groomed her through calls and text discussions, saying he wanted a relationship. Zhou claims that they began dating and working on two projects together, including Disney Chroniclesand that Renner “appears in 80% of the film.” She claims that when the documentary was released last month, Renner “refused to do any public promotion” despite allegedly having written agreements with her Italian production company, Into the Sun Films. Zhou says she asked Renner to help her fight fan accounts falsely claiming the documentary was created by an artificial intelligence without its consent, but he allegedly refused.
“When I called him privately about his past misdeeds and asked him to behave decently and to respect me as a woman and as a director, he threatened to call Immigration/ICE on me, an act that deeply shocked and frightened me.” she wrote. “This behavior is unacceptable and symbolic of the power imbalance that continues to harm women in our industry.”
The actor's rep called the allegations “completely inaccurate and untrue.” The Marvel actor has not made any public comments.
In his interview with the publication Daily MailZhou claimed that it was Renner who was stalking her. “I didn’t reach out to him,” she said. “I didn't even know his name, never watched any of his films. He used me, he denied me and he denied our work.” She shared a screenshot of a pornographic image that Renner allegedly sent her via WhatsApp in June.
She further alleged that Renner drank a bottle of wine one August night and yelled at her for two hours during a work meeting at his home. Zhou claimed that she had to “lock herself” in her room “for fear of [her] life.”
Renner almost died in snowplow accident on New Year's Day 2023. He spoke about an accident that left him in critical condition, Diane Sawyer interview a few months later. “I chose to survive. There's no way this is going to kill me,” Renner said.
The actor was previously married to Canadian model and actress Sonny Pacheco. During a bitter custody battle over the child, Pacheco accused him of substance abuse and threatening to kill her.
