Jeremy Renner accused of abuse by filmmaker Yi Zhou: He threatened to call ICE
Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou has accused Hollywood star Jeremy Renner of sending her unwanted pornographic photos and threatening to call US immigration authorities if she confronts him about his behavior.
Hollywood star Jeremy Renner, best known for playing ‘Hawkeye’ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is facing serious allegations from Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou, who claims that the actor threatened him to call US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Zhou, who collaborated with Renner on a documentary and an animated film, made the allegations public through a series of Instagram posts this week.
According to Zhou, Renner contacted her unexpectedly in June 2025, allegedly sending her “a series of unsolicited/unsolicited pornographic images of himself” on WhatsApp. The two reportedly developed a romantic relationship while working together on two projects. However, their partnership took a turn for the worse during a meeting at Renner’s Nevada home to discuss the ‘Chronicles of Disney’ documentary.
Zhou said daily Mail The actor drank the entire bottle of wine and then became “very angry”, shouting for about two hours. She said, “If anything happened to me, I had to share the location with my team, my parents, and my Disney colleagues, they knew where I was. I had to lock myself in a room to be safe and pray that he wouldn’t come into the room at night because he was really angry. I didn’t even say a word, I was so scared for my life.”
Leaked messages reportedly sent by Zhou to Disney colleagues at the time showed her expressing fear, calling Renner “violent” and “concerned”. A co-worker advised her to lock herself up, to which Zhou responded that she was already locked up, adding, “I’m worried that he spent 2 hours screaming alone with a bottle of wine.”
The film producer further alleged that when Renner confronted him about his behavior he threatened to call US immigration authorities. “When I called him out privately about his past misconduct and asked him to behave appropriately, to respect me as a woman and as a filmmaker, he threatened to call Immigration/ICE on me, an act that deeply shocked and horrified me,” Zhou wrote in her Instagram post.
Zhou, who was born in Shanghai and grew up in Rome, attended the London School of Economics before pursuing a creative career in Paris. She also shared screenshots of alleged text exchanges with Renner, in which he called her a “pig” and told her to “go to hell.” In response, Rainer reportedly wrote, “Immigration will be informed about you” – although the message appeared to be truncated.
These claims have reignited discussion of Renner’s controversial past, including his 2015 divorce from Sonny Pacheco. Pacheco previously accused the actor of threatening to kill her and himself, using drugs, and leaving cocaine within reach of their daughter Ava. Renner denied the allegations and currently share joint custody of their child.
So far, Jeremy Renner has not publicly responded to Zhou’s latest allegations.
