Jeremy Renner has denied Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou’s explosive allegations and is threatening legal action.
Zhou, 37, who collaborated with the 54-year-old Marvel star on a documentary and an animated movie, accused Renner of sending her ‘intimate photographs’ and pornographic videos in an attempt to woo her.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Zhou claims Renner went on drunken rants that left her afraid, then threatened to ‘call ICE’ after they fell out.
‘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 told Daily Mail.
She also posted her allegations on Instagram Monday, claiming she had ‘lived with fear for my safety and deep distress.’
Now, Renner is pushing back, with his attorney Marty Singer firing a cease-and-desist letter obtained by TMZ on Saturday, denying Zhou’s claims and warning of possible legal action.
Jeremy Renner has denied Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou’s explosive allegations and is threatening legal action
Zhou, 37, who collaborated with the 54-year-old Marvel star on a documentary and an animated movie, accused Renner of sending her ‘intimate photographs’ and pornographic videos in an attempt to woo her
According to the letter, Renner agreed to appear in Zhou’s documentary, Chronicles of Disney, but says their first meeting in July quickly turned uncomfortable when Zhou allegedly made a move on him.
Renner maintains there was a ‘brief consensual encounter’, per the letter.
Afterward, he says he made it clear in August that he was not interested in pursuing any further sexual relationship.
During a subsequent meeting, he placed Zhou in a guest bedroom to avoid any additional intimacy.
He further claims that Zhou continued to pursue him, sending ‘hundreds of explicit text messages’ and demanding intimacy, including during a car ride to the airport after their collaboration.
The actor insists that, aside from the initial encounter, their relationship remained strictly professional.
He also alleges Zhou threatened to ‘harm him publicly’ unless he promoted her documentary and fabricated a romantic connection between them.
The letter warns that if Zhou does not cease spreading “false, fabricated and salacious lies,” she could face significant legal consequences, including potentially millions of dollars in damages.
Zhou, 37, (left) spoke to the Daily Mail about the claims she dished out on Instagram about his alleged ‘misconduct’ while they were in a romantic relationship
In a statement on Friday, Singer also called Zhou’s claims ‘false, outrageous and highly defamatory.’
Singer added that Zhou was retaliating after Renner ‘rejected her romantic advances’ and did not promote her projects on social media.
In Zhou’s exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, she claimed Renner got drunk at a meeting about their film at his home and ‘yelled for two hours’, while she locked herself in the bathroom in fear.
‘I was discussing about the doc logistics, then he drank a bottle of wine alone and got angry and angry yelling for two hours,’ Zhou said.
‘I had to location share to my team, my parents and Disney colleagues in case something happens to me they know where I am.
In texts shared with the Daily Mail, Zhou allegedly told a colleague that Renner got drunk during an August 20 meeting about their documentary and became so angry she locked herself in a bathroom for hours in fear – though she told a colleague she was safe
A photo Zhou allegedly snapped on the day of the incident captures Renner beside a half-empty wine bottle, his hand reaching for the glass as a dazed look clouds his eyes
Alleged texts with her Disney colleagues during the incident show Zhou calling Renner ‘violent’, but also replying ‘yes I should be ok’ when asked ‘Do you think you will be safe staying there?’
The documentarian shared what she said were her texts with colleagues during the August 20 incident in which she described Renner’s alleged drunken ranting.
‘Can you lock yourself in the bathroom? He sounds crazy,’ one co-worker wrote.
‘I did lock hope he can’t open,’ Zhou replied. ‘I m [so] worried he yelled for 2 hours with one bottle of wine down alone.’
In her recent Instagram posts, Zhou claimed she had ‘lived with fear for my safety and deep distress.
‘It is with deep regret, sadness, and disappointment that I am compelled to share a truth I have been holding inside for too long,’ she wrote.
Another message from that day showed a coworker expressing concern for her safety and urging her to share her location ‘in case something happens.’ Zhou also said she was ’safe’ and ‘ok’ in the alleged texts
Zhou – pictured in a selfie with Renner – previously told the Daily Mail in October that she began dating the actor in recent months before it went sour
Zhou also claimed Renner sent her a screenshot of a short porn clip featuring a man and woman, along with the message, ‘This ok???’
‘No woman, filmmaker, or creative should have to work under such emotional and psychological pressure while trying to protect her name and the integrity of her work.’
She accused the Hurt Locker actor of ‘misconduct’ in the post.
‘Mr Renner first contacted me directly in June, sending personal and intimate photographs of himself, behavior that, according to public reports, he has exhibited before,’ she wrote.
Zhou previously posted a picture of a man’s naked torso on her Instagram stories, and she told the Daily Mail it was a photo Renner sent her, unsolicited.
‘I have a collection of those photos and the porn gifs that he sent,’ she said.
Zhou shared with the Daily Mail a screenshot of a short porn video clip Renner allegedly texted her on WhatsApp in June, depicting a male and female porn actor in a sex scene, with an accompanying drooling emoji and the message ‘This ok ???’
‘He convinced me of his sincerity, saying he had been single for a long time and open to a long-term relationship,’ she wrote in her bombshell public posts on Monday. ‘I believed in him, in the power of love, and in the possibility of redemption.’
Zhou claimed Renner convinced her he wanted a serious relationship – only to later make unwanted sexual advances, work with her professionally and then deny their relationship altogether
The former couple collaborated on Chronicles of Disney, a documentary about Disney workers featuring Renner as a key interviewee, and the animated film Stardust Future, in which he provided a voiceover
Amid the fallout of their relationship, Zhou reached out to Renner to share the hate she was receiving over their Oscar campaign. He responded: ‘I don’t know any of these people’ and ‘I don’t control people’
In her interview with the Daily Mail, Zhou said that Renner had approached her with sexual advances, worked with her professionally, then later denied their relationship.
‘I did not reach out to him, he pursued me,’ she said. ‘I didn’t even know his name, never watched a movie of his.
‘He used me and denied me and denied our work.’
Fans had speculated about Zhou’s relationship with Renner after she posted videos on her Instagram in September of herself riding with him in his convertible car near his home in Reno, Nevada.
Last month she told the Daily Mail that she had been dating the actor.
But Zhou slammed him in her Monday Instagram posts for failing to publicly promote the two movies she made with him: a documentary about Disney workers called Chronicles of Disney in which he was a key interviewee, and an animated feature called Stardust Future for which he performed a voiceover.
‘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,’ the Chinese filmmaker wrote.
The alleged breaking point came after she privately confronted him about sending explicit photos, to which he reportedly threatened to call immigration on her, according to texts she shared to the Daily Mail. Zhou refused to provide the rest of Renner’s alleged cut-off message
Before their fallout, Zhou shared photos that appear to be from Renner’s Reno home, including one of him lounging on the couch with his laptop, and posted an Instagram story featuring a collage of the couple driving in his convertible
The Daily Mail obtained a screenshot of alleged WhatsApp texts between Zhou and Renner, in which she called him a ‘pig’, accusing him of using ‘apps to send d**k pix’, then adding ‘no one said anything – so far’.
Renner responded: ‘Immigration will be notified of your-‘ with the rest of the message cut off.
Zhou refused to provide the Daily Mail with the rest of Renner’s alleged text.
‘Such behavior is unacceptable and emblematic of the imbalance of power that continues to harm women in our industry,’ the filmmaker continued in her Instagram post.
‘This misinformation and intimidation have not only caused personal and reputational harm to me but have also undermined the collective creative work and integrity of all the artisans who contributed to this film.
‘It took me long time, before I had the courage to write this and speak up,’ she added in the last of her three posts.
‘I thank my team, my agents / managers and friends / other women who supported me in voicing such a pain and humiliation I still have inside as I am typing these posts.’
Representatives for Renner have not responded to the Daily Mail.
