Days after Marvel and Mayor of Kingstown star, Jeremy Renner, faced multiple shocking accusations from his filmmaking partner, Yi Zhou, the actor has made a surprising move. Zhou accused the Hawkeye actor of sharing “unsolicited pornographic images” with her and said Renner threatened to call ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on her.
Per The Daily Beast, via TMZ, Renner has now officially responded to Zhou by sending her a cease and desist letter. In the letter, Renner claims that he and Zhou were never romantically involved and that she “aggressively” pursued him. In the letter, Renner claims that the pair’s working relationship started after he said he’d participate in Zhou’s documentary, Chronicles of Disney. The letter also states that Zhou allegedly made a move on Renner when they first met in July. The letter also warns Zhou if she doesn’t stop spreading “salacious lies,” she will face legal action.
According to the letter, Renner states that he and Zhou had a “brief sexual encounter,” and after, when they met again in August, he told her he wasn’t interested in pursuing a sexual relationship. He then claimed Zhou continued to aggressively pursue him after the meeting and sent him “hundreds” of explicit messages asking to be with him and “demanding” sex. The Avengers actor also claims he didn’t give Zhou any reason to think that they were together beyond that first encounter. Additionally, he claims she threatened to “harm him publicly” unless he agreed to promote her documentary and pretend that they were together. Renner also accused Zhou of identifying him as the narrator of her AI-generated animated film, Stardust Future: Stars and Scars.
Zhou Responded Via Instagram
Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in Captain America Civil WarImage via Marvel Studios
Last week, Zhou publicly accused Renner of sending her “unsolicited pornographic images of himself” and also accused the actor of threatening to call ICE on her after she confronted him on the matter. Zhou took to Instagram to respond to Renner’s threat of legal action and his cease and desist letter. In a post, she wrote: “I believe women should be able to express their concerns privately and publicly without a cease and desist not to speak. In the new metoo era we are backed by receipts, therefore it’s no longer a he said she said debate. I called it love as love is elevated spiritually; But maybe I was just a sex toy?”
In another Instagram post, Zhou shared a series of text messages that seemed to be depicting a conversation between the filmmaker and Renner. She also detailed the matter in a post to the social media site, sharing her response to the TMZ article. In the post, Zhou wrote, “I wish to clarify several points regarding my professional and personal interactions with Jeremy Renner and the ongoing media coverage surrounding them.” She also touched on the “professional collaboration” between herself and Renner on Stardust Future and Chronicles of Disney. “My communications have always emphasized respect and appreciation for his contribution and for the shared goal of supporting creative and humanitarian work.”
Zhou continued that she and Renner “developed a personal connection beginning in mid-2025.” She added, “I have described it publicly as ‘love’ because I consider that term to be the most respectful and dignified for both of us. We live in different cities – Los Angeles and Reno – and the relationship has been long-distance.” In the caption of her post, Zhou added that she is “also sharing the names of other women who came forward so you can judge if we are the predators or he is the one?”
Release Date
November 14, 2021
Network
Paramount+
Showrunner
Taylor Sheridan
Directors
Stephen Kay, Guy Ferland, Christoph Schrewe, Clark Johnson, Paul Cameron, Tasha Smith, Taylor Sheridan
Writers
James Arcega Tinsley
Jeremy Renner
Mike McLusky
