Mayor of Kingstown Star Hits Back at Allegations of Sexual Texts and ICE Threats

Jeremy Renner is denying a new round of allegations from filmmaker Yi Zhou, and the whole thing has turned into a messy back-and-forth. Here is what each side says happened, why they worked together in the first place, and how the timeline lines up.

What Zhou says happened

Yi Zhou, a 37-year-old Chinese filmmaker who worked with Renner on the documentary 'Chronicles of Disney' and the animated film 'Stardust Future,' says Renner first reached out by sending her intimate photos. She says he told her he was single and open to a real relationship, then signed deals with her Italian production outfit, Into the Sun Films. According to Zhou, after one of their projects dropped two weeks before her posts, he refused to promote it despite repeated asks, both publicly and privately.

When she confronted him about that, Zhou says things escalated.

'he threatened to call immigration/ICE on me'

She also characterizes what she calls their relationship as having 'domestic aggressions,' though she does not spell out what that means. In the days since going public, Zhou says other women have contacted her with similar stories about Renner, and she accuses him of cheating during what she views as a relationship. She has been posting screenshots of alleged messages between them and says she has metadata saved.

How Renner is responding

Renner, best known right now for Paramount+ drama 'Mayor of Kingstown,' is flatly rejecting all of it. A rep told People that the claims are totally inaccurate and untrue. His attorney, Marty Singer, went further, calling Zhou's accusations false and defamatory. Singer says the reality is the opposite: that Zhou aggressively pursued Renner for months, and that he did not reciprocate beyond one brief in-person meeting on July 12, 2025.

Per Singer, Zhou kept contacting Renner through August with sexually explicit messages professing love, which he ignored; he says the last message arrived on October 24. The attorney frames Zhou's allegations as retaliation after Renner rejected her romantically and declined to back her professional projects.

Zhou pushes back on People and the lawyer

After People ran Renner's side, Zhou responded on Instagram, saying the magazine asked her for comment but did not include it. She urged them to publish both sides and added that the law firm speaking for Renner had represented her at one point as well. Zhou reiterated that her screenshots are real and that she has the metadata to support them.

The condensed version

• Who worked with whom: Zhou and Renner collaborated on 'Chronicles of Disney' and 'Stardust Future'; Renner also signed agreements with Zhou's company, Into the Sun Films.
• What Zhou alleges: unsolicited intimate photos; talk of a serious relationship; refusals to promote a project released two weeks before her posts; an ICE threat; a relationship she describes as having 'domestic aggressions'; alleged cheating; and that other women have reached out with similar stories.
• What Renner's side says: the claims are false; Zhou allegedly harassed him; they met only once in person on July 12, 2025; he ignored her messages, including sexually explicit ones; the last message was Oct. 24; and she is allegedly retaliating after he rejected her and declined to support her projects.
• Media wrangling: People published Renner's denial via attorney Marty Singer; Zhou says her reply to the outlet was timely but left out and notes that Singer's firm previously represented her.

There are a lot of heavy claims here and not a lot of publicly verifiable details beyond dueling statements and posted screenshots. If anything formal lands (legal filings, police reports), this will get louder fast. For now, both sides are dug in.

Meanwhile, 'Mayor of Kingstown' is streaming on Paramount+.