Jeremy Renner has denied the allegations that he harassed Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou and threatened to call the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on her.
A representative for the Hawkeye actor denied the claims to Variety, saying, “The allegations being made are totally inaccurate and untrue.” In an additional statement to People, the actor’s rep called the claims “false, outrageous, and highly defamatory,” suggesting that Zhou was retaliating after he “rejected her romantic advances” and didn’t promote her projects.
Renner’s response comes after Zhou, who claimed that he reached out to her in June and sent “a string of unwanted/unsolicited pornographic images of himself via DM and Whatsapp,” accused him of threatening to call ICE after a confrontation.
Zhou claimed that she worked with Renner on the documentary Chronicles of Disney and an animated film while striking up a romantic relationship.
“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 one of her Instagram posts. “I believed in him, in the power of love and in the possibility of redemption.”
According to Zhou, their alleged relationship took a turn when they met up to work on one of their projects.
“I was discussing about the documentary logistics, then he drank a bottle of wine alone and got angry and yelled for two hours," Zhou claimed to the Daily Mail. “I had to share location with my team, my parents and Disney colleagues in case something happens to me they know where I am,” she explained. “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.”
“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 added.
In a statement to People, Zhou said that she was “frauded by love” and that Renner “forced himself on me the first day we met.”
Renner’s legal team sent Zhou a cease and desist letter on Nov. 7 that threatens legal action, demanding that she stop "defamatory communications" and refrain from republishing "false, fabricated and salacious lies.”
Zhou continues to post about the situation on her Instagram account.