Do we like Jeremy Renner?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A thin harm record and real charity work sit next to unresolved, denied allegations, so it's a middling-to-decent score rather than a clean bill.
Most people know Renner as Hawkeye, but lately he's been doing something more interesting off-screen. His Disney+ series Rennervations, where vehicles got converted for charities, became the launching pad for a foundation in the Reno area, where he says he plans to stay. I couldn't open a page that tells his full career story, so this column sticks to what the reporting I read actually backs up.
The big stoush is with filmmaker Yi Zhou. In November 2025 she posted on Instagram alleging that Renner sent her unsolicited explicit images in June and threatened to call immigration authorities when she confronted him. She also said other women had contacted her with their own allegations. None of that has been tested in court.
Renner denies it. His rep called the allegations “totally inaccurate and untrue”, and his lawyer, Marty Singer, called them “false, outrageous and highly defamatory”. Singer says Zhou chased Renner for months, that the two had a single consensual encounter in July, and that she copped a cease-and-desist on 7 November. Zhou says she sent her own letter two days earlier, accusing him of harassment and intimidation.
On the harm test, we found nothing: no campaigning against LGBTQ+ or trans people, no slide into conspiracy theories, and no run of work with people who push that stuff. One search did turn up decades-old rumours about his sexuality, and he brushed them off. That's his own business, not a mark either way. The gap is that he doesn't seem to talk politics much, so the evidence is thin rather than glowing.
There's also a civil suit that landed in March 2026. A California woman claims she lost $23,450 to someone she believed was Renner, who she says contacted her after she liked an Instagram post. His lawyers deny he ever communicated with her and say she likely paid online impersonators. A trial was listed for August, with his team planning to seek dismissal first, and I found no ruling.
The good stuff is real. The RennerVation Foundation, which grew out of his Disney series, aims to give foster children and at-risk youth chances to find joy, including a trauma-informed summer camp at Lake Tahoe. Earlier this year he also put his name and money behind RapidSOS, a tech company that feeds real-time data to 911 centres and first responders.