Jeremy Renner is facing allegations from Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou, who has accused the Marvel actor of cyberflashing her, emotional abuse, and even threatening to involve US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after she confronted him about his alleged behavior.
Zhou, 37, who says she collaborated with Renner on both a documentary and an animated film earlier this year, took to Instagram and the press to detail a harrowing series of alleged events, per The Independent.
She claimed the Avengers and Mayor of Kingstown star pursued her romantically and professionally - before turning aggressive and hostile behind closed doors.
From creative partnership to crisis
Zhou said Renner initially reached out to her “out of the blue” in June 2025 via direct message and WhatsApp, where he allegedly sent her “a string of unwanted / unsolicited p*rnographic images of himself.”
She added on Instagram: “After having calls and text discussions he allured me and sold me he [was] looking for a relation and of course seduced / flatted [sic] that he was a Hollywood star fantasizing and loving me so much I believed in him.”
Zhou claimed their professional bond quickly became personal, saying, “We have been in a relationship,” and referring to Renner as having “found new love” with her.
“The power of love and embarked on the most difficult months + 2 Oscar running projects I kindly invited him to be part,” she wrote.
A terrifying night in Reno
Zhou alleged the relationship took a dark turn during a meeting at Renner’s home in Reno, Nevada, while discussing logistics for their documentary project, Chronicles of Disney.
“I was discussing about the doc logistics, then he drank a bottle of wine alone and got angry and angry yelling for two hours,” she told Daily Mail.
“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 also said she shared her location with her team, parents, and Disney colleagues out of fear for her safety.
Daily Mail published alleged text exchanges from that night, including one where Zhou called Renner “violent” and admitted: “I am worried.”
“Do you think you will be safe staying there?” one co-worker asked. Zhou replied: “Yes, I should be ok.” In another message, a colleague urged her to “get out of there as fast as you can.”
“Can you lock yourself in the bathroom?” one co-worker texted, to which Zhou responded: “I did lock hope he can’t open. I’m worried he yelled for 2 hours with one bottle of wine down alone.”
Zhou claims ICE threat followed confrontation
Perhaps the most shocking allegation came when Zhou said Renner retaliated after she confronted him privately about his “past misconduct.”
“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 on Instagram.
She told the Mail: “Such behavior is unacceptable and emblematic of the imbalance of power that continues to harm women in our industry.”
In a screenshot shared with Daily Mail, Zhou called Renner a “pig” and told him to “go to hell.” She added: “U use all apps to send d*ck pix. No one said anything. So far.”
Renner allegedly replied: “Immigration will be notified of your —,” though Zhou declined to share the rest of that message.
Renner responds
Zhou claims Renner has refused to promote the projects they worked on together, despite “repeated pleas public and private for support.”
“Instead, he has allowed without stepping up for false information to spread through fan accounts falsely claiming that the documentary was generated by AI and denying any personal relation or professional collaboration,” she wrote. “These statements are untrue.”
Zhou added: “I did not reach out to him, he pursued me. I didn’t even know his name, never watched a movie of his. He used me and denied me and denied our work.”
“The allegations being made are totally inaccurate and untrue,” Renner’s rep told Page Six on Friday.