Nov. 9, 2025
Making Sense of the Jeremy Renner Accusations
Apple Podcasts 
Spotify 
Castro 
RSS Feed This has gotten ugly. Really ugly. Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner strongly denies accusations from Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou. She claims he sent her unsolicited pornographic image, sexually assaulted her, and even threatened to call ICE on her. But Renner claims it was Zhou who pursued him and harassed him ... after he rejected her.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: And evolks. Sit is Sunday, November ninth, and be straight with you, Robot and I have had a very difficult time in conversations today about this story and what to make of it. Hollywood superstar Jeremy Renner has been accused of some atrocious behavior and we're not exactly sure what it is. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Rod. You didn't know how we're going to start this, but is that we see headlines, but then we read details and we're trying to make sense of this story. But some very serious allegations, including of a non consensual sexual encounter.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: And that's been a lot of our debate here. So we've got a Now, I guess her birthday is today?
00:00:47
Speaker 1: You said, yes, yesterday?
00:00:49
Speaker 2: Eight year old yesterday. So thirty eight year old Asian filmmaker who is claiming and the way she puts it is that they had a non consensual sexual encounter that turned consensual. And that's a confusing statement in and of itself. Is she claiming that he raped her? Is she claiming that he's sexually assaulted her? Is she stating something now with the context of him not wanting a further relationship with her, the regret she had, it's hard to know where it all, where it falls. There's a big gray area.
00:01:25
Speaker 1: Okay, so we want to deal with let's get away from interpretation or trying to understand what somebody might be trying to say. We'll just tell you exactly what she is saying. And the film director we're talking about here is Yee Joe. She's not someone necessarily that's a household name that you will know. She has very limited credits, if you will, as a director, but she's putting together a couple of films now, including one that Jeremy Rinner voiced a character in that's an animated film, and then another a documentary she's doing about Disney that he did an interview for.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: So yes, yes, he was actually just he did a kind of a quick interview, I believe, where he was describing the accident, the life threatening accident he had in twenty twenty three where he broke thirty eight bones in a snowplowing accident. So yes, he lented his interview to that and his voice to another project.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: Okay, so that's the extent of their relationship. And now because of that introduction, if you will. She is alleging Robes, and I want to make sure I get the facts right. She's alleging that he wanted to call or threatened to call Ice on her, threatened that their first encounter sexual encounter was non consensual, that he had threatening behavior to the point that she locked herself in a room and was afraid to come out. This was at his home to have that right after he had a bottle of wine and was drunk that night. Am I missing something?
00:02:48
Speaker 2: And she also claims that he sent her sexually explicit photos, so unwanted unsolicited sexually explicit photos over.
00:02:59
Speaker 1: To So to set that stage, I want to start. We're gonna read through it, and she we should say Robes. She has been for a week now sending almost or posting non stop about this about him and making clear she wants his career.
00:03:17
Speaker 2: Over because at the end, and there are several several Instagram posts that she's put out there, but she has a lot of hashtags and the first hashtag on all of them is cancel Jeremy Runner. So she has a specific goal in mind.
00:03:34
Speaker 1: Sure, So this is up. We're just setting the stage. I'm reading verbatim one of her posts Robes as I would say, maybe up to twenty, and they have long, long messages attached to them. Some of them just say cancel as the image or a couple of other ones. I think one says domestic violence. Several of them say cancel. Actually, but she has life in death.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: She she actually points to a girl who died by suicide. She claims she died by suicide after attending a Jeffrey Renner sorry Jeremy Renner orgy. She's making all of these wild accusations, so.
00:04:14
Speaker 1: Let's just start. I'm just gonna read this as just setting the stage. Quote. At the early stage of our exchanges, I received unsolicited intimate photos and messages that were uninvited and inappropriate. The first physical encounter was not consensual. I asked for more time and gentleness, but my boundaries were not respected. Later interactions became consensual, yet the earlier incident remained deeply distressing. That's just what he said. She said. People can come to whatever conclusion and try to interpret that. But Robes, the first physical encounter was not consensual. Is that anything short of a sexual assault?
00:04:59
Speaker 2: That seems like a crime. The way she worded it, the way she phrased it that would be something that, if it were true, would be a criminal act. Correct. Yes, And it's interesting because you mentioned her Instagram some of the other words that she used in some of her posts love versus fling. She was very upset that his side described it as a fleeing or as a one off, where she in all of these posts talks about their relationship as being a love relationship, something much more serious than he's acknowledged it.
00:05:39
Speaker 1: Okay, and to that point did she not. I'm not sure how recently this was, but she put out messages, She put out Instagram posts not just suggesting but saying that she was involved with Jeremy Renner.
00:05:53
Speaker 2: She believes, according to her Instagram post and certainly what she has written, she believed and believes that they were in a relationship and that is not what Jeremy Renner's team is saying.
00:06:07
Speaker 1: So and reminder, if you all do not know Jeremy Renner, Yes, Hawkeye from the Marvel franchise, but he is much more than the Hawkeye from the Marvel franchise roads. Those are enormous movies, so that makes him a worldwide superstar. But this dude has some acting Chops credentials and bona fides to his name.
00:06:25
Speaker 2: Absolutely. The hurt Locker heard of that. Yes, and he was nominated for an Academy Award.
00:06:31
Speaker 1: For that the best Actor. That's not that's a big deal.
00:06:35
Speaker 2: It's a huge every time he is mentioned or introduced in any room he is Academy Award nominated, Oscar nominated actor Jeremy Renner the Town, Ben Affleck.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: Next year, Damon Very next year.
00:06:48
Speaker 2: Yes, these are huge movie franchises. He is a household name and he certainly he's not just respected for being some hunky leading man. He is absolutely given a lot of bona fides for his acting Chops, and.
00:07:05
Speaker 1: We should mention it as well. The last several mission Impossible movies with Tom Cruise, he was added to that franchise. So we mentioned that to say, this is a ginormous Hollywood superstar who is being accused robes of I hate trying to interpret what somebody is saying, but when you say that your physical encounter was not consensual, you are saying that you were violated. You were saying that you were raped, you were saying that you were sexually assaulted in some way. That is criminal. And she is saying this happened in recent.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: Months in July is what she is saying. So according to both of them, I believe she's acknowledged this as well. Their first meeting where they actually met one on one. She lives in la he lives in Reno, but they had sex that night, So their first night that they actually physically met, they actually had sex. Jeremy Renner's team says it was consensual. She is now saying it was not consensual.
00:08:05
Speaker 1: But she is saying that a relationship continued. And we're going to read some of her messages here that suggests robes that she was in a loving or thought she was in a loving relationship. She talks about how she still loves him even.
00:08:20
Speaker 2: Which is bizarre. If you love someone and then the first hashtag you have at the bottom of your Instagram is cancel Jeremy Renner. This is a very bizarre case. And I will say we'll get into the details of what she put out on Instagram, but her defense and her receipts, she keeps calling them of text messages on WhatsApp that she's putting out there on her Instagram account. First of all, can't be verified, obviously, but also have certain very important things cut off, and she puts pictures out there that show him bizarrely sitting on a couch that makes it look like she's proving, see, I was with him in real life, here I am with him, Like she's almost wanting to prove to everyone that she did physically know him and had him in close proximity in a living room setting that somehow that proves what she's saying.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: I mean, she's trying to make her case on social media, which is not obviously anybody who suggests a good idea, but she is continuing on and on. You all, We're talking about almost volumes of texts of Instagram posts she's putting out trying to make her case. We should robes right now before we get into more of what she put out on Instagram to say what he and his lawyer they have absolutely responded and responded stroggly. The cease and desist letters are flying back and forth between these folks, But he and his lawyer are absolutely defending him in the strongest of ways.
00:09:47
Speaker 2: Yes, he says that these are false, outrageous, and highly defamatory statements. Here is what his attorney said. The true facts are that Miss Joe 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 twelfth, twenty twenty five.
00:10:10
Speaker 1: And we're bring that right. They're acknowledging, and they call it, probably intentionally a brief encounter versus a sexual encounter. But we're supposed to assume that that's what it was. Are we reading this the same?
00:10:23
Speaker 2: That's exactly how I read it. And then they talk about how she was sending him hundreds of messages, sexually explicit messages expressing her love so from Joe to Renner. They claim they have these, and they also said that she aggressively pursued a sexual romantic sexting relationship and has manufactured fake and outlandis claims to generate publicity for her projects. I mentioned the hashtags. They all begin with cancel Jeremy Renner, but they all include hashtag of the names of her two projects that she'd like people to check out.
00:11:04
Speaker 1: What are we supposed to do with that?
00:11:05
Speaker 2: Though? It's a tough thing to do if you're And then she also has hashtag survivor. So you're claiming and fine, she's claiming that she was raped. Let's just be honest. That is what she's claiming. She wants everyone to cancel Jeremy Renner. She wants everyone to acknowledge her as a survivor. And she's also then at the same time, in the same breath, promoting her projects. That's tough.
00:11:29
Speaker 1: What's the I don't know what here's supposed to do? I mean, she's can you do both? You know what you can, You should be allowed to, but you have to also understand the optics. That's fair. You could do it and she could be sense.
00:11:43
Speaker 2: You can do whatever you'd like.
00:11:44
Speaker 1: You to understand.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: Take away, Yes, what they will based on their questioning motive. They're questioning why. So there are a couple of questions as to whether or not she felt who knows her ego got bruise, she got rejected, it could or something areas could have happened, like it's one or the other. And also she's taking advantage potentially of a situation where she's trying she claims to be transparent, set the record straight. She says she doesn't want to cause any harm. She said she doesn't want to vilify him. She wants to be transparent, right, is that what the word she will use.
00:12:21
Speaker 1: She wants to be transparency. This is not retaliation.
00:12:23
Speaker 2: This retaliation that was the word I was sarching for. She didn't want to be retaliatory, but she just wanted to be transparent. That's fine. I just think it's definitely a little bit difficult to swallow when you then are also promoting projects.
00:12:36
Speaker 1: Okay, that's that's fair enough. I think yeah, if that's uh, that doesn't have to be our opinion. That's fair to acknowledge that. Of course, people going to look at that way, and as we start sharing her messages here, it is going to come up, and it does. She I think every single message includes a mention, and it's not just a mention of the movie, it's the actual tag to the Yes.
00:12:57
Speaker 2: It's clearly she has the She has basically has the Instagram handle for all of her projects, so that if you're on her Instagram page and you're looking at her accusations, within the accusations within the narrative, she does have links to her project.
00:13:10
Speaker 1: Doesn't change her truth, does it not? It doesn't, it does.
00:13:13
Speaker 2: But it would allow or at least I'm sure some folks it would.
00:13:17
Speaker 1: It's an easy opening to.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: Question the motivation.
00:13:20
Speaker 1: Easy.
00:13:20
Speaker 2: I also don't know. Here's what I don't know. She has one point eight million followers on Instagram right now. I don't know if that was the case before she started making these accusations. Not sure, no idea what her Instagram was beforehand. But she has a significant following.
00:13:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, she was. She's spen termed a what certainly a filmmaker but before this and influencer I believe online as well. So some of her we're going to hear. This kind of sets the stage. This first one we're going to read and again, folks, we are going to read just verbatim what she wrote and what her words are. This one, another one kind of sets the stage. Here you wanted to end? Where is it you take this? Can you take that first one? In ten thousand?
00:13:59
Speaker 2: Yes? G June twenty twenty five, out of the blue, I received two photos of Jeremy Renner and then a string of unwonted, unsolicited pornographic images of himself via DM and WhatsApp. That was his introduction to me in the same way, according to past media reports, I subsequently discovered he shared with other women in the past as self intro After having calls and text discussions, he allured me and sold me that he is looking for a relation and of course seduced flattered that he was a Hollywood star fantasizing and loving me so much, I believed in him the power of love and embarked on the most difficult months plus two Oscar running projects. I kindly invited him to be a part. Subsequently, I discovered to be destroyed by a setup smear fans campaign against me and our two projects. This is alarming to know on Hollywood we can still act in such manner. I'm worried for other women who will be victim and might have been victim being used as a sexual object.
00:15:07
Speaker 1: Okay, every word of it's true. What if every word are we supposed to How do we look at something when somebody's saying they are a victim of a powerful man. How are we supposed to look at that? How do we scrutinize without then discouraging other women who are absolute victims from coming forward?
00:15:30
Speaker 2: So I think this is a little bit different TJ. So just by what she wrote, may I point out, yes, that she claims to have gotten unwanted, unsolicited, sexually explicit photos from Jeremy Renner.
00:15:45
Speaker 1: I know where you're going.
00:15:46
Speaker 2: She did not need to respond. She did not need to reply, and she certainly did not need to then ask him to be a part of her project.
00:15:54
Speaker 1: This is where I pumped her choices. Okay, choices, who are pumped the brakes? A a n upcoming, a starving artist who wants an opportunity to work with that guy? What then that allure that draw? I'm saying someone will point to that and say, hey, he drew her in. He's a powerful man. We've seen this all before.
00:16:16
Speaker 2: But if he did what she said he did, and he very well may have, she knew what she was walking into. He didn't send her flattering text saying I really liked your work or I saw what you did here. I think you're an interesting person. Let's meet up. He's if it's true, because we don't know that that he sent her these, and he denies it, flatly denies sending her sexually explicit photos. Absolutely, But if he did do that, I would just say she's at the time, she was thirty seven years old. What did she think she was entering into. What kind of a professional relationship did she think would be expected. I'm just saying we have to at least acknowledge she's a grown ass woman. She's not twenty one years old, she's not nineteen years old. And if all of what she says is true, she chose to engage with him, and she chose to invite him to be a part of her projects.
00:17:14
Speaker 1: Okay, fine, fine to all of that. Now we get to the next thing. Let's say she just made a bad decision. Let's say, okay, he sent her these messages, that's true, unsolicit pornographic images sent them, She got drawn in. That still doesn't mean the non consensual encounter did not happen.
00:17:39
Speaker 2: So if it happened, look, I appreciate and I understand that women feel concerned and upset and scared to say and point to someone who is powerful. Going to police isn't always an option. It doesn't feel like an option. So I get that. I guess a lot of folks would just question her choice to then continue in a romantic relationship with him. If that's your first encounter, your first physical encounter with somebody, after they've already sent you sexually explicit emails, and then the first physical encounter you have with them, you say that you were forced into a sexual encounter that you did not consent to. Then you're going to continue to converse with this person and invite them to be a part of your projects and then say you had consensual relationship with them afterwards. That's just a tough thing for I think anyone to get their head around.
00:18:35
Speaker 1: But now here we are Jeremy Rinner Oscar nominee has been accused of sexually assaulting someone, yes.
00:18:44
Speaker 2: And threatening to call ice on them, and also sending explicit photos. So it's a multitude of of harassment.
00:18:56
Speaker 1: Oh, I am glad you mentioned I Stay here, folks, we're going to tell tell you about the ice threat, the one that's making so many headlines out there. Exactly what did he say? And actually why didn't she say more about that particular incident. Also, folks, we're gonna go through. We're gonna go through as quickly as we can. Some of her other messages, we don't need to interpret them for you. We're just gonna let you hear them for yourself. All right, folks, woke back, We continue you here, Amy and TJ with Jeremy Renner of the accusations coming at him from a filmmaker a Yeezuo, a thirty eight year old filmmaker working on a documentary and also an animated show that he or movie that he was a part of, now accusing him of a non consensual sexual encounter. And she claimed ropes from her instan post, this was her boyfriend, was it not?
00:20:03
Speaker 2: She definitely it seems from the posts from what she had put up that she believed that she and Jeremy Renner were in a romantic relationship.
00:20:14
Speaker 1: Now, a lot of the headlines robes, I think it might have been you brought this story to my attention, like you're not going to believe this, And I think one of the big headlines was this, Yes, this Chinese is her Chinese filmmaker, she's the Chinese. So one of the things, one of the accusations, you're going to see this in a lot of headlines, Jeremy Renner threatens to call ice on Chinese filmmaker. That's I'm not sure if that's true, because we see the post she makes robes, yes, and she says something, but she excuse me, she didn't say She shows but didn't show enough.
00:20:52
Speaker 2: So I'll actually tell you exactly what her and you all can check it out for yourself and her Instagram page. But she says, please see written rights. The denial is bad conduct giving all the documents and communications produced. What she produced is a It looks like a WhatsApp back and forth, and it says Jeremy Renner. It shows her saying, go to hell. All names are given. You are a pig. You use all apps to send dick picks. No one said anything so far. And then you see at the very bottom, so this is supposedly from Jeremy Renner where he writes immigration will be notified of your But then it's cut off and clearly there is another sentence. You can see the tops of the letters. But she chose not to include the rest of what he responded to her with, and yet made the claim that he threatened to call Ice on her, so that one line immigration will be notified of your But then she like, why wouldn't she show the second line number one, number two? We don't obviously have verification that this text exchange is real.
00:21:59
Speaker 1: That is such a you new folks are going to run with that headline threatens to call ice at this time and day, and all those headlines.
00:22:07
Speaker 2: It makes him look like a total asshole on top of being potentially a sexual predator.
00:22:12
Speaker 1: And again, all of that stuff about him could be true, but it's so difficult. Roads. We've talked about these so often. When it comes to this, you can't you can't put this genie back in that bottle. Once somebody has attached to Jeremy Renner, he's a potential rapist, He's a potential guy who is trying to get a woman deported. Those are the headlines. How do you put that back in? I don't know? And how do you have this discussion roads? We talk about it all the time. There are real victims out there who are not coming forward and they watch a story like this, and what are they supposed to do.
00:22:44
Speaker 2: It's frustrating because look, I it's tough. We don't know what the truth is and that's the problem. But when you do have questionable behavior, and we're going to read a couple of these questionable posts that she made on Instagram that that do leave you wondering what actually is going on? And I think it's fair to question. I think we yes, we want to believe women. Yes, we want to believe their stories. I obviously want to be we are on that page. And yet when you still have to give, it's not fair to have Jeremy Renner immediately assume to be the worst person, to assume that he did these things, assume that he must be guilty, even if he is a player, even if he is a ladies man, whatever you want to assign to it. It doesn't mean that he is a sexual predator.
00:23:33
Speaker 1: But if we assume he's not guilty, that means we are assuming she's not telling the truth. And if you do that, we have a problem. I don't know, Rodes. We've talked about these planning and I don't know what way to go and how to do it. But we'll continue talking. Let's take and folks, we'll just go through and we'll just give you verbatim the post that she read, this first one here is from she thanks a reporter, this was bizarre, but this is a tabloid reporter. But she was speaking very highly and thanking these folks for reporting her story.
00:24:06
Speaker 2: Yes, and to be like really pointed this was a tabloid. She says, thank you tabloid for letting me tell my story, a story of survival against domestic aggression, porn abuse and abuse of workplace and abuse as a woman. I'm sure there will be many other stories who will come forward, and I really invite the ones that have not spoken to speak up. Our projects and all the people that have worked really hard and that are a part of the project will also survive the storm.
00:24:34
Speaker 1: This next one here, Robe is a this was You've you and I probably talked about this exchange more than anyo.
00:24:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, because this one to me was eye opening and it speaks to where her head was. And again, let's just like reiterate. They met in July and both of them have agreed they had a sexual encounter, and he claims that was it. They met once again in August, but nothing happened and physically between the two of them. In fact, he claims he rejected her. So she says, and she writes, I believed in a Disney fairy tale when Jeremy Renner reached out to me and pursued me, I thought, until recently love was pure and his accident made him a new person. Therefore, and then she this is when she chronicles of Disney and Stardust future movie. Those are her two projects included him and the fairy Tale I Believed In was interwoven in the two works. Oh that seems I don't I don't want to put it. It makes you question her story.
00:25:42
Speaker 1: Out of the blue, I received two photos of Jeremy Renner and then a string of unwanted, unsolicited pornographic images of him. I believed in a Disney fairy tale when Jeremy Renner reached out to me and pursued me. She's describing the exact same moment in two very different ways by her own words. I am not I want to give her every benefit of the doubt. I'm only reading what she's saying.
00:26:13
Speaker 2: Rob So which one is true? And can they both be true?
00:26:17
Speaker 1: He reached out to me messages previous you were saying he was sending unsolicited, unwanted pornographic stuff. I don't she those are her.
00:26:30
Speaker 2: Words, And then she's I thought until recently love was pure and his accident made him a new person. So she and also when she's describing, as we pointed out earlier, she claims that she doesn't want to be retaliatory and at the same time she wants to be transparent and then she's like, cancel Jeremy Renner. None of that, all, all of what she's saying. They don't jibe, they don't work together, they're confusing.
00:27:00
Speaker 1: Let me use that for his own pleasure. I'm reading something to Steve. This is the next one, you know'ta skip that next. I'm gonna down to this one. When I first received pornographic images, they were unwanted and unsolicited cyberflashing. Then he talked me into a relationship with him, sold me his love. However, the truth that is the most devastating came out in the recent weeks when he set up fan smear campaign started devastating our documentary at Chronicles of Disney and Our Future or our first ever animated feature at Stardust Future Movie, which will be released in a few weeks. As a woman and as a filmmaker, being in a relationship with someone with whom you also have projects in the process of being released, I debated for a long time how to present it, given the difficulties I went through and the truth I discovered slowly throughout the last few months and ropes. I can't remember why I did it, but I underlined this next section.
00:28:02
Speaker 2: You did, she wrote, I thought it would be more respectful for myself and for him to present it under the denomination of love, rather than a new relationship or a fleeing or whatever you want to call it. I have always respected him and will continue to respect him, but the love and the respect has not been reciprocated. When the smear campaign started attacking us and continue to attack us online, I thought the truth about him should come out. And truth is a defense.
00:28:34
Speaker 1: I don't want to interpret. I'm gonna keep reading. My intention is not retaliation, but transparency. I have worked tirelessly to complete my two films Masters of Cinema, Chronicles of Disney and Stardust Future, both of which honor the artisans of Hollywood and the spirit of creative collaboration. I have the right to protect my professional reputation, to set boundaries, and to correct misinformation when selective reporting distorts the facts.
00:29:00
Speaker 2: He goes on to say, my team and I we have all suffered, and our story is, in the end a story of survivors. My truth led many women contact me speaking about the same pain with him. I think I have spoken a lot and provided all the receipts here. I wish to reroute our com to two projects and Oscar campaigns going forward, a last promotional nod.
00:29:27
Speaker 1: And why not. I mean, yes, it's gonna rar people the wrong way. I am trying to and I and even going throughout here, I was so careful and trying to make sure of our tone. It feels rogues as if you always defer, you have to. Women have not been believed for so long was the case. So they're being listened to and believed, so we have to. I don't know what to do but start there with believing every word out of her mouth. But if I do that, good Christ, I am not leaving in a room for Jeremy Renner to say anything.
00:30:06
Speaker 2: I think it will be very interesting to see. This is obviously getting ugly. It's gotten ugly all weekend long, and there will be more to come in the days that follow, and we will be following this because look, this is a tough spot. Yes, we want to believe women one hundred percent, and for too long we haven't. And yet at the same time, I think it's only fair to not tell someone or assume that someone's guilty before they've had a chance to prove otherwise. So look, Jeremy Renner's team says they have hundreds of emails from this woman where she was obsessed with him, harassing him, professing her love to him, wanting to have sexual texting back and forth. So look, I imagine that in his defense, if that's there and they do have that in their possession, they will be releasing that. She's been releasing what she has on her Instagram. So I would think this is going to get flushed out that if everything each is saying is provable, Let's see all the receipts.
00:31:09
Speaker 1: And folks, if you all want to see ye Joe, I think ye Joe is why I and then Joe Zhou have that right, Okay, ye Joe is the name if you want to check her out on Instagram. But it's all there for you to see. We just want to chime in and jump on this one, folks. We will continue to follow this. There will be updates robes, I believe, probably very very soon.
00:31:31
Speaker 2: Maybe even on Monday, maybe even tomorrow. Yes, And with that everyone, thank you so much for listening to us. I made me roboch alongside T. J. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: And evolks. Sit is Sunday, November ninth, and be straight with you, Robot and I have had a very difficult time in conversations today about this story and what to make of it. Hollywood superstar Jeremy Renner has been accused of some atrocious behavior and we're not exactly sure what it is. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Rod. You didn't know how we're going to start this, but is that we see headlines, but then we read details and we're trying to make sense of this story. But some very serious allegations, including of a non consensual sexual encounter.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: And that's been a lot of our debate here. So we've got a Now, I guess her birthday is today?
00:00:47
Speaker 1: You said, yes, yesterday?
00:00:49
Speaker 2: Eight year old yesterday. So thirty eight year old Asian filmmaker who is claiming and the way she puts it is that they had a non consensual sexual encounter that turned consensual. And that's a confusing statement in and of itself. Is she claiming that he raped her? Is she claiming that he's sexually assaulted her? Is she stating something now with the context of him not wanting a further relationship with her, the regret she had, it's hard to know where it all, where it falls. There's a big gray area.
00:01:25
Speaker 1: Okay, so we want to deal with let's get away from interpretation or trying to understand what somebody might be trying to say. We'll just tell you exactly what she is saying. And the film director we're talking about here is Yee Joe. She's not someone necessarily that's a household name that you will know. She has very limited credits, if you will, as a director, but she's putting together a couple of films now, including one that Jeremy Rinner voiced a character in that's an animated film, and then another a documentary she's doing about Disney that he did an interview for.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: So yes, yes, he was actually just he did a kind of a quick interview, I believe, where he was describing the accident, the life threatening accident he had in twenty twenty three where he broke thirty eight bones in a snowplowing accident. So yes, he lented his interview to that and his voice to another project.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: Okay, so that's the extent of their relationship. And now because of that introduction, if you will. She is alleging Robes, and I want to make sure I get the facts right. She's alleging that he wanted to call or threatened to call Ice on her, threatened that their first encounter sexual encounter was non consensual, that he had threatening behavior to the point that she locked herself in a room and was afraid to come out. This was at his home to have that right after he had a bottle of wine and was drunk that night. Am I missing something?
00:02:48
Speaker 2: And she also claims that he sent her sexually explicit photos, so unwanted unsolicited sexually explicit photos over.
00:02:59
Speaker 1: To So to set that stage, I want to start. We're gonna read through it, and she we should say Robes. She has been for a week now sending almost or posting non stop about this about him and making clear she wants his career.
00:03:17
Speaker 2: Over because at the end, and there are several several Instagram posts that she's put out there, but she has a lot of hashtags and the first hashtag on all of them is cancel Jeremy Runner. So she has a specific goal in mind.
00:03:34
Speaker 1: Sure, So this is up. We're just setting the stage. I'm reading verbatim one of her posts Robes as I would say, maybe up to twenty, and they have long, long messages attached to them. Some of them just say cancel as the image or a couple of other ones. I think one says domestic violence. Several of them say cancel. Actually, but she has life in death.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: She she actually points to a girl who died by suicide. She claims she died by suicide after attending a Jeffrey Renner sorry Jeremy Renner orgy. She's making all of these wild accusations, so.
00:04:14
Speaker 1: Let's just start. I'm just gonna read this as just setting the stage. Quote. At the early stage of our exchanges, I received unsolicited intimate photos and messages that were uninvited and inappropriate. The first physical encounter was not consensual. I asked for more time and gentleness, but my boundaries were not respected. Later interactions became consensual, yet the earlier incident remained deeply distressing. That's just what he said. She said. People can come to whatever conclusion and try to interpret that. But Robes, the first physical encounter was not consensual. Is that anything short of a sexual assault?
00:04:59
Speaker 2: That seems like a crime. The way she worded it, the way she phrased it that would be something that, if it were true, would be a criminal act. Correct. Yes, And it's interesting because you mentioned her Instagram some of the other words that she used in some of her posts love versus fling. She was very upset that his side described it as a fleeing or as a one off, where she in all of these posts talks about their relationship as being a love relationship, something much more serious than he's acknowledged it.
00:05:39
Speaker 1: Okay, and to that point did she not. I'm not sure how recently this was, but she put out messages, She put out Instagram posts not just suggesting but saying that she was involved with Jeremy Renner.
00:05:53
Speaker 2: She believes, according to her Instagram post and certainly what she has written, she believed and believes that they were in a relationship and that is not what Jeremy Renner's team is saying.
00:06:07
Speaker 1: So and reminder, if you all do not know Jeremy Renner, Yes, Hawkeye from the Marvel franchise, but he is much more than the Hawkeye from the Marvel franchise roads. Those are enormous movies, so that makes him a worldwide superstar. But this dude has some acting Chops credentials and bona fides to his name.
00:06:25
Speaker 2: Absolutely. The hurt Locker heard of that. Yes, and he was nominated for an Academy Award.
00:06:31
Speaker 1: For that the best Actor. That's not that's a big deal.
00:06:35
Speaker 2: It's a huge every time he is mentioned or introduced in any room he is Academy Award nominated, Oscar nominated actor Jeremy Renner the Town, Ben Affleck.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: Next year, Damon Very next year.
00:06:48
Speaker 2: Yes, these are huge movie franchises. He is a household name and he certainly he's not just respected for being some hunky leading man. He is absolutely given a lot of bona fides for his acting Chops, and.
00:07:05
Speaker 1: We should mention it as well. The last several mission Impossible movies with Tom Cruise, he was added to that franchise. So we mentioned that to say, this is a ginormous Hollywood superstar who is being accused robes of I hate trying to interpret what somebody is saying, but when you say that your physical encounter was not consensual, you are saying that you were violated. You were saying that you were raped, you were saying that you were sexually assaulted in some way. That is criminal. And she is saying this happened in recent.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: Months in July is what she is saying. So according to both of them, I believe she's acknowledged this as well. Their first meeting where they actually met one on one. She lives in la he lives in Reno, but they had sex that night, So their first night that they actually physically met, they actually had sex. Jeremy Renner's team says it was consensual. She is now saying it was not consensual.
00:08:05
Speaker 1: But she is saying that a relationship continued. And we're going to read some of her messages here that suggests robes that she was in a loving or thought she was in a loving relationship. She talks about how she still loves him even.
00:08:20
Speaker 2: Which is bizarre. If you love someone and then the first hashtag you have at the bottom of your Instagram is cancel Jeremy Renner. This is a very bizarre case. And I will say we'll get into the details of what she put out on Instagram, but her defense and her receipts, she keeps calling them of text messages on WhatsApp that she's putting out there on her Instagram account. First of all, can't be verified, obviously, but also have certain very important things cut off, and she puts pictures out there that show him bizarrely sitting on a couch that makes it look like she's proving, see, I was with him in real life, here I am with him, Like she's almost wanting to prove to everyone that she did physically know him and had him in close proximity in a living room setting that somehow that proves what she's saying.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: I mean, she's trying to make her case on social media, which is not obviously anybody who suggests a good idea, but she is continuing on and on. You all, We're talking about almost volumes of texts of Instagram posts she's putting out trying to make her case. We should robes right now before we get into more of what she put out on Instagram to say what he and his lawyer they have absolutely responded and responded stroggly. The cease and desist letters are flying back and forth between these folks, But he and his lawyer are absolutely defending him in the strongest of ways.
00:09:47
Speaker 2: Yes, he says that these are false, outrageous, and highly defamatory statements. Here is what his attorney said. The true facts are that Miss Joe 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 twelfth, twenty twenty five.
00:10:10
Speaker 1: And we're bring that right. They're acknowledging, and they call it, probably intentionally a brief encounter versus a sexual encounter. But we're supposed to assume that that's what it was. Are we reading this the same?
00:10:23
Speaker 2: That's exactly how I read it. And then they talk about how she was sending him hundreds of messages, sexually explicit messages expressing her love so from Joe to Renner. They claim they have these, and they also said that she aggressively pursued a sexual romantic sexting relationship and has manufactured fake and outlandis claims to generate publicity for her projects. I mentioned the hashtags. They all begin with cancel Jeremy Renner, but they all include hashtag of the names of her two projects that she'd like people to check out.
00:11:04
Speaker 1: What are we supposed to do with that?
00:11:05
Speaker 2: Though? It's a tough thing to do if you're And then she also has hashtag survivor. So you're claiming and fine, she's claiming that she was raped. Let's just be honest. That is what she's claiming. She wants everyone to cancel Jeremy Renner. She wants everyone to acknowledge her as a survivor. And she's also then at the same time, in the same breath, promoting her projects. That's tough.
00:11:29
Speaker 1: What's the I don't know what here's supposed to do? I mean, she's can you do both? You know what you can, You should be allowed to, but you have to also understand the optics. That's fair. You could do it and she could be sense.
00:11:43
Speaker 2: You can do whatever you'd like.
00:11:44
Speaker 1: You to understand.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: Take away, Yes, what they will based on their questioning motive. They're questioning why. So there are a couple of questions as to whether or not she felt who knows her ego got bruise, she got rejected, it could or something areas could have happened, like it's one or the other. And also she's taking advantage potentially of a situation where she's trying she claims to be transparent, set the record straight. She says she doesn't want to cause any harm. She said she doesn't want to vilify him. She wants to be transparent, right, is that what the word she will use.
00:12:21
Speaker 1: She wants to be transparency. This is not retaliation.
00:12:23
Speaker 2: This retaliation that was the word I was sarching for. She didn't want to be retaliatory, but she just wanted to be transparent. That's fine. I just think it's definitely a little bit difficult to swallow when you then are also promoting projects.
00:12:36
Speaker 1: Okay, that's that's fair enough. I think yeah, if that's uh, that doesn't have to be our opinion. That's fair to acknowledge that. Of course, people going to look at that way, and as we start sharing her messages here, it is going to come up, and it does. She I think every single message includes a mention, and it's not just a mention of the movie, it's the actual tag to the Yes.
00:12:57
Speaker 2: It's clearly she has the She has basically has the Instagram handle for all of her projects, so that if you're on her Instagram page and you're looking at her accusations, within the accusations within the narrative, she does have links to her project.
00:13:10
Speaker 1: Doesn't change her truth, does it not? It doesn't, it does.
00:13:13
Speaker 2: But it would allow or at least I'm sure some folks it would.
00:13:17
Speaker 1: It's an easy opening to.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: Question the motivation.
00:13:20
Speaker 1: Easy.
00:13:20
Speaker 2: I also don't know. Here's what I don't know. She has one point eight million followers on Instagram right now. I don't know if that was the case before she started making these accusations. Not sure, no idea what her Instagram was beforehand. But she has a significant following.
00:13:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, she was. She's spen termed a what certainly a filmmaker but before this and influencer I believe online as well. So some of her we're going to hear. This kind of sets the stage. This first one we're going to read and again, folks, we are going to read just verbatim what she wrote and what her words are. This one, another one kind of sets the stage. Here you wanted to end? Where is it you take this? Can you take that first one? In ten thousand?
00:13:59
Speaker 2: Yes? G June twenty twenty five, out of the blue, I received two photos of Jeremy Renner and then a string of unwonted, unsolicited pornographic images of himself via DM and WhatsApp. That was his introduction to me in the same way, according to past media reports, I subsequently discovered he shared with other women in the past as self intro After having calls and text discussions, he allured me and sold me that he is looking for a relation and of course seduced flattered that he was a Hollywood star fantasizing and loving me so much, I believed in him the power of love and embarked on the most difficult months plus two Oscar running projects. I kindly invited him to be a part. Subsequently, I discovered to be destroyed by a setup smear fans campaign against me and our two projects. This is alarming to know on Hollywood we can still act in such manner. I'm worried for other women who will be victim and might have been victim being used as a sexual object.
00:15:07
Speaker 1: Okay, every word of it's true. What if every word are we supposed to How do we look at something when somebody's saying they are a victim of a powerful man. How are we supposed to look at that? How do we scrutinize without then discouraging other women who are absolute victims from coming forward?
00:15:30
Speaker 2: So I think this is a little bit different TJ. So just by what she wrote, may I point out, yes, that she claims to have gotten unwanted, unsolicited, sexually explicit photos from Jeremy Renner.
00:15:45
Speaker 1: I know where you're going.
00:15:46
Speaker 2: She did not need to respond. She did not need to reply, and she certainly did not need to then ask him to be a part of her project.
00:15:54
Speaker 1: This is where I pumped her choices. Okay, choices, who are pumped the brakes? A a n upcoming, a starving artist who wants an opportunity to work with that guy? What then that allure that draw? I'm saying someone will point to that and say, hey, he drew her in. He's a powerful man. We've seen this all before.
00:16:16
Speaker 2: But if he did what she said he did, and he very well may have, she knew what she was walking into. He didn't send her flattering text saying I really liked your work or I saw what you did here. I think you're an interesting person. Let's meet up. He's if it's true, because we don't know that that he sent her these, and he denies it, flatly denies sending her sexually explicit photos. Absolutely, But if he did do that, I would just say she's at the time, she was thirty seven years old. What did she think she was entering into. What kind of a professional relationship did she think would be expected. I'm just saying we have to at least acknowledge she's a grown ass woman. She's not twenty one years old, she's not nineteen years old. And if all of what she says is true, she chose to engage with him, and she chose to invite him to be a part of her projects.
00:17:14
Speaker 1: Okay, fine, fine to all of that. Now we get to the next thing. Let's say she just made a bad decision. Let's say, okay, he sent her these messages, that's true, unsolicit pornographic images sent them, She got drawn in. That still doesn't mean the non consensual encounter did not happen.
00:17:39
Speaker 2: So if it happened, look, I appreciate and I understand that women feel concerned and upset and scared to say and point to someone who is powerful. Going to police isn't always an option. It doesn't feel like an option. So I get that. I guess a lot of folks would just question her choice to then continue in a romantic relationship with him. If that's your first encounter, your first physical encounter with somebody, after they've already sent you sexually explicit emails, and then the first physical encounter you have with them, you say that you were forced into a sexual encounter that you did not consent to. Then you're going to continue to converse with this person and invite them to be a part of your projects and then say you had consensual relationship with them afterwards. That's just a tough thing for I think anyone to get their head around.
00:18:35
Speaker 1: But now here we are Jeremy Rinner Oscar nominee has been accused of sexually assaulting someone, yes.
00:18:44
Speaker 2: And threatening to call ice on them, and also sending explicit photos. So it's a multitude of of harassment.
00:18:56
Speaker 1: Oh, I am glad you mentioned I Stay here, folks, we're going to tell tell you about the ice threat, the one that's making so many headlines out there. Exactly what did he say? And actually why didn't she say more about that particular incident. Also, folks, we're gonna go through. We're gonna go through as quickly as we can. Some of her other messages, we don't need to interpret them for you. We're just gonna let you hear them for yourself. All right, folks, woke back, We continue you here, Amy and TJ with Jeremy Renner of the accusations coming at him from a filmmaker a Yeezuo, a thirty eight year old filmmaker working on a documentary and also an animated show that he or movie that he was a part of, now accusing him of a non consensual sexual encounter. And she claimed ropes from her instan post, this was her boyfriend, was it not?
00:20:03
Speaker 2: She definitely it seems from the posts from what she had put up that she believed that she and Jeremy Renner were in a romantic relationship.
00:20:14
Speaker 1: Now, a lot of the headlines robes, I think it might have been you brought this story to my attention, like you're not going to believe this, And I think one of the big headlines was this, Yes, this Chinese is her Chinese filmmaker, she's the Chinese. So one of the things, one of the accusations, you're going to see this in a lot of headlines, Jeremy Renner threatens to call ice on Chinese filmmaker. That's I'm not sure if that's true, because we see the post she makes robes, yes, and she says something, but she excuse me, she didn't say She shows but didn't show enough.
00:20:52
Speaker 2: So I'll actually tell you exactly what her and you all can check it out for yourself and her Instagram page. But she says, please see written rights. The denial is bad conduct giving all the documents and communications produced. What she produced is a It looks like a WhatsApp back and forth, and it says Jeremy Renner. It shows her saying, go to hell. All names are given. You are a pig. You use all apps to send dick picks. No one said anything so far. And then you see at the very bottom, so this is supposedly from Jeremy Renner where he writes immigration will be notified of your But then it's cut off and clearly there is another sentence. You can see the tops of the letters. But she chose not to include the rest of what he responded to her with, and yet made the claim that he threatened to call Ice on her, so that one line immigration will be notified of your But then she like, why wouldn't she show the second line number one, number two? We don't obviously have verification that this text exchange is real.
00:21:59
Speaker 1: That is such a you new folks are going to run with that headline threatens to call ice at this time and day, and all those headlines.
00:22:07
Speaker 2: It makes him look like a total asshole on top of being potentially a sexual predator.
00:22:12
Speaker 1: And again, all of that stuff about him could be true, but it's so difficult. Roads. We've talked about these so often. When it comes to this, you can't you can't put this genie back in that bottle. Once somebody has attached to Jeremy Renner, he's a potential rapist, He's a potential guy who is trying to get a woman deported. Those are the headlines. How do you put that back in? I don't know? And how do you have this discussion roads? We talk about it all the time. There are real victims out there who are not coming forward and they watch a story like this, and what are they supposed to do.
00:22:44
Speaker 2: It's frustrating because look, I it's tough. We don't know what the truth is and that's the problem. But when you do have questionable behavior, and we're going to read a couple of these questionable posts that she made on Instagram that that do leave you wondering what actually is going on? And I think it's fair to question. I think we yes, we want to believe women. Yes, we want to believe their stories. I obviously want to be we are on that page. And yet when you still have to give, it's not fair to have Jeremy Renner immediately assume to be the worst person, to assume that he did these things, assume that he must be guilty, even if he is a player, even if he is a ladies man, whatever you want to assign to it. It doesn't mean that he is a sexual predator.
00:23:33
Speaker 1: But if we assume he's not guilty, that means we are assuming she's not telling the truth. And if you do that, we have a problem. I don't know, Rodes. We've talked about these planning and I don't know what way to go and how to do it. But we'll continue talking. Let's take and folks, we'll just go through and we'll just give you verbatim the post that she read, this first one here is from she thanks a reporter, this was bizarre, but this is a tabloid reporter. But she was speaking very highly and thanking these folks for reporting her story.
00:24:06
Speaker 2: Yes, and to be like really pointed this was a tabloid. She says, thank you tabloid for letting me tell my story, a story of survival against domestic aggression, porn abuse and abuse of workplace and abuse as a woman. I'm sure there will be many other stories who will come forward, and I really invite the ones that have not spoken to speak up. Our projects and all the people that have worked really hard and that are a part of the project will also survive the storm.
00:24:34
Speaker 1: This next one here, Robe is a this was You've you and I probably talked about this exchange more than anyo.
00:24:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, because this one to me was eye opening and it speaks to where her head was. And again, let's just like reiterate. They met in July and both of them have agreed they had a sexual encounter, and he claims that was it. They met once again in August, but nothing happened and physically between the two of them. In fact, he claims he rejected her. So she says, and she writes, I believed in a Disney fairy tale when Jeremy Renner reached out to me and pursued me, I thought, until recently love was pure and his accident made him a new person. Therefore, and then she this is when she chronicles of Disney and Stardust future movie. Those are her two projects included him and the fairy Tale I Believed In was interwoven in the two works. Oh that seems I don't I don't want to put it. It makes you question her story.
00:25:42
Speaker 1: Out of the blue, I received two photos of Jeremy Renner and then a string of unwanted, unsolicited pornographic images of him. I believed in a Disney fairy tale when Jeremy Renner reached out to me and pursued me. She's describing the exact same moment in two very different ways by her own words. I am not I want to give her every benefit of the doubt. I'm only reading what she's saying.
00:26:13
Speaker 2: Rob So which one is true? And can they both be true?
00:26:17
Speaker 1: He reached out to me messages previous you were saying he was sending unsolicited, unwanted pornographic stuff. I don't she those are her.
00:26:30
Speaker 2: Words, And then she's I thought until recently love was pure and his accident made him a new person. So she and also when she's describing, as we pointed out earlier, she claims that she doesn't want to be retaliatory and at the same time she wants to be transparent and then she's like, cancel Jeremy Renner. None of that, all, all of what she's saying. They don't jibe, they don't work together, they're confusing.
00:27:00
Speaker 1: Let me use that for his own pleasure. I'm reading something to Steve. This is the next one, you know'ta skip that next. I'm gonna down to this one. When I first received pornographic images, they were unwanted and unsolicited cyberflashing. Then he talked me into a relationship with him, sold me his love. However, the truth that is the most devastating came out in the recent weeks when he set up fan smear campaign started devastating our documentary at Chronicles of Disney and Our Future or our first ever animated feature at Stardust Future Movie, which will be released in a few weeks. As a woman and as a filmmaker, being in a relationship with someone with whom you also have projects in the process of being released, I debated for a long time how to present it, given the difficulties I went through and the truth I discovered slowly throughout the last few months and ropes. I can't remember why I did it, but I underlined this next section.
00:28:02
Speaker 2: You did, she wrote, I thought it would be more respectful for myself and for him to present it under the denomination of love, rather than a new relationship or a fleeing or whatever you want to call it. I have always respected him and will continue to respect him, but the love and the respect has not been reciprocated. When the smear campaign started attacking us and continue to attack us online, I thought the truth about him should come out. And truth is a defense.
00:28:34
Speaker 1: I don't want to interpret. I'm gonna keep reading. My intention is not retaliation, but transparency. I have worked tirelessly to complete my two films Masters of Cinema, Chronicles of Disney and Stardust Future, both of which honor the artisans of Hollywood and the spirit of creative collaboration. I have the right to protect my professional reputation, to set boundaries, and to correct misinformation when selective reporting distorts the facts.
00:29:00
Speaker 2: He goes on to say, my team and I we have all suffered, and our story is, in the end a story of survivors. My truth led many women contact me speaking about the same pain with him. I think I have spoken a lot and provided all the receipts here. I wish to reroute our com to two projects and Oscar campaigns going forward, a last promotional nod.
00:29:27
Speaker 1: And why not. I mean, yes, it's gonna rar people the wrong way. I am trying to and I and even going throughout here, I was so careful and trying to make sure of our tone. It feels rogues as if you always defer, you have to. Women have not been believed for so long was the case. So they're being listened to and believed, so we have to. I don't know what to do but start there with believing every word out of her mouth. But if I do that, good Christ, I am not leaving in a room for Jeremy Renner to say anything.
00:30:06
Speaker 2: I think it will be very interesting to see. This is obviously getting ugly. It's gotten ugly all weekend long, and there will be more to come in the days that follow, and we will be following this because look, this is a tough spot. Yes, we want to believe women one hundred percent, and for too long we haven't. And yet at the same time, I think it's only fair to not tell someone or assume that someone's guilty before they've had a chance to prove otherwise. So look, Jeremy Renner's team says they have hundreds of emails from this woman where she was obsessed with him, harassing him, professing her love to him, wanting to have sexual texting back and forth. So look, I imagine that in his defense, if that's there and they do have that in their possession, they will be releasing that. She's been releasing what she has on her Instagram. So I would think this is going to get flushed out that if everything each is saying is provable, Let's see all the receipts.
00:31:09
Speaker 1: And folks, if you all want to see ye Joe, I think ye Joe is why I and then Joe Zhou have that right, Okay, ye Joe is the name if you want to check her out on Instagram. But it's all there for you to see. We just want to chime in and jump on this one, folks. We will continue to follow this. There will be updates robes, I believe, probably very very soon.
00:31:31
Speaker 2: Maybe even on Monday, maybe even tomorrow. Yes, And with that everyone, thank you so much for listening to us. I made me roboch alongside T. J. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.