Gosh, Jeremy Renner seems to be in some hot water. This could have easily been avoided, but he went ahead and used a messaging app to lay out the evidence.
One of the more surprising developments in Renner’s fascinating comeback story: Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou, 34, is now accusing Jeremy Renner (“The Avengers”) of threatening to call ICE on her over an alleged misconduct allegation.
Zhou, who has worked on film projects, detailed her claims across a series of Instagram posts and has since spoken to the New York Post to further explain what happened. Apparently, Renner has a volatile temper.
According to Zhou, in 2025, the actor reportedly sent her “unwanted pornographic images” via WhatsApp. This eventually evolved into a romantic relationship, which then led them to collaborate on the documentary “Chronicles of Disney.”
The situation reportedly escalated during a meeting at Renner’s home in Reno on August 20. According to Zhou, Renner became intoxicated and “angrily yelled for two hours,” prompting her to lock herself in a room out of fear. The biggest claim from Zhou alleges that after she privately confronted Renner about his behaviour, he threatened to “call immigration/ICE” on her. She wrote that the remark “deeply shocked and frightened” her, describing the ordeal as emblematic of “how women and Asian filmmakers are still being mistreated in Hollywood.”
These claims have surfaced just over two years after Renner’s near-fatal snowplough accident and revive earlier controversies surrounding his personal conduct.
The actor has faced similar accusations in the past — most notably from his ex-wife, Sonni Pacheco, who accused him of abusive behaviour during their 2019 custody dispute. Renner denied those claims in a later interview with The Guardian, adding that he and Pacheco now share joint custody of their daughter.
UPDATE: The actor’s representatives have not replied to requests for comment about Zhou’s latest allegations. Renner has also not issued any public statements addressing the specific accusations of threatening behavior or inappropriate communication.
A quick look at Zhou’s Instagram shows that she’s made well over a dozen posts about Renner in the past three days. Renner allegedly threatened to call ICE on her in August, yet in the months that followed, she continued posting laudatory content about him. Take that for whatever it’s worth.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.