Hollywood star Jeremy Renner has been hit with bombshell accusations by Chinese filmmaking partner Yi Zhou. The actor, who played Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, allegedly threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Zhou.
The Chinese filmmaker leveled her accusations against Renner in a series of Instagram posts made this week. Zhou, who worked on a documentary and animated movie with the 54-year-old, claimed that he’d reached out to her out of the blue in June 2025. On WhatsApp, over direct message, Renner allegedly sent her ‘a string of unwanted / unsolicited pornographic images of himself.’
According to Zhou, they formed a romantic relationship and worked together on two projects. However, things began to go bad during a meeting about the Chronicles of Disney documentary at Renner’s Nevada home. Zhou detailed to Daily Mail how the Marvel actor downed a bottle of wine alone, and got ‘very very angry’, ending up yelling for two hours.
“I had to location share to my team, my parents and Disney colleagues in case something happens to me they know where I am. I had to lock myself in a room to be safe praying he would not come into the room at night as he was really angry. I did not say a word, I was so scared for my life,” she explained. However, she’d reportedly told a colleague she’d be safe at his place.
What texts between Zhou and Renner say
Zhou’s alleged texts with Disney colleagues, when the incident was going down, show her call Renner ‘violent’ and say that she’s ‘worried’. One person suggested that she lock herself in, somewhere. To this, Zhou answered that she’d locked it and was hoping Renner wouldn’t be able to open the door.
“I’m [so] worried he yelled for 2 hours with one bottle of wine down alone,” she reportedly added.
Zhou had, meanwhile, shared on Instagram that Renner threatened to call immigration on her when she confronted him about his behavior. “When I called him out privately about his past misconduct and asked him to behave properly, to respect me as a woman and as a filmmaker, he threatened to call immigration/ICE on me, an act that deeply shocked and frightened me,” she wrote. Zhou was born in Shanghai and moved to Rome, Italy, at a young age. She graduated from the London School of Economics before heading to Paris, France to start her career as an artist.
Zhou also shared what she and Renner would say to each other over text. The filmmaker told Mail that she’d called him a ‘pig’ and told him to ‘go to hell’. She added, “U use all apps to send d–k pix. No one said anything. So far.” In reply, Renner allegedly said “Immigration will be notified of your…”.
She didn’t show Mail the rest of the message which was cut off.
Jeremy Renner past controversies
Renner had a previous marriage with Sonni Pacheco for ten months, before the latter filed for divorce. They have a daughter, Ava.
Sonni had accused Renner of threatening to kill her and himself. His former wife also said Renner would use drugs and reportedly left cocaine on a bathroom counter where Ava could reach. Renner has denied all allegations and has joint custody of Ava with his ex-wife.
