Jeremy Renner is addressing the allegations levied by Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou against him, following a series of Instagram posts this week in which Zhou claimed that the 54-year-old actor sent her a "string of unwanted/unsolicited pornographic images of himself" in direct messages and WhatsApp in June. When confronted, she alleged that he "threatened to call immigration/ICE" on her.
Renner's representative has issued a statement, declaring that "the allegations are totally inaccurate and untrue." In a statement to PEOPLE on Friday, November 7, Renner's attorney Marty Singer vehemently denied Zhou's claims, calling them "false, outrageous, and highly defamatory." Singer alleges that Zhou is retaliating against Renner after the actor "rejected her romantic advances" and did not promote her projects on social media.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Zhou claimed she had been "frauded by love" and alleged that the actor sent her "obscene photos without consent...for days," "forced himself on me the first day we met," and threatened to call ICE on her.
Singer, however, alleges that Renner met Zhou only once in July when they met at a hotel in Reno, Nevada, where Renner was interviewed for Zhou's documentary, and the two shared a "brief consensual encounter." They met a second time in August, and Renner hasn't spoken to her in over a month, Singer said, adding that the actor has ignored her alleged "sexually explicit messages expressing her love." Her most recent message was allegedly sent on October 24.
Zhou tells PEOPLE in a statement that she included Renner in her projects "because I thought and promised to me we were in an evolving love relationship." On Instagram, she alleged that when she called Renner "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."
Addressing Zhou's allegations that Renner threatened to call ICE on her, Singer alleges that Zhou "had been relentlessly harassing and threatening my client with hundreds of unsolicited and unwanted messages." In his statement shared with PEOPLE, Singer added, "The true facts are that Ms. Zhou has relentlessly and aggressively harassed and pursued my client for months with no reciprocation on my client’s part, other than a single brief encounter on July 12, 2025."
Zhou concluded her statement to PEOPLE by saying, "I believe the Me too movement is not over and we need to fight more."
Renner's legal team sent a cease and desist letter to Zhou on Friday demanding that the filmmaker stop "defamatory communications" and refrain from republishing "false, fabricated, and salacious lies," threatening legal action otherwise. The letter claims that it was Zhou who "aggressively pursued a sexual/romantic/sexting relationship" and "has manufactured fake and outlandish claims...to generate publicity" for her projects.
