EXCLUSIVE: Amid explicit misconduct allegations on both sides, Jeremy Renner is vowing to sue a documentary filmmaker for “multi-millions” over what the Hawkeye star claims is the unauthorized use of his voice in an AI-created film.
However, with a timeline, a press release, a previous legal action and an alleged signed release, director Yi Zhou claims that Renner fully agreed in writing to participate in the AI-animated Stardust Futures: Stars and Scars. The differing POVs have turned the sordid matter into something more complex technologically and deal-wise than a case of “she said, he said.”
Not that Marty Singer sees it that way.
“You have no personal relationship with my client other than an extremely brief and entirely consensual encounter on only one occasion in July 2025,” declares a November 7 cease-and-desist letter sent to Zhou from Renner’s heavyweight Hollywood lawyer.
A lot of attention has been paid in recent days to Zhou’s claims on social media of her intimate interactions with the Avengers actor, with apparent sex texts, the subsequent emotional fallout and accusations of abuse. Yet, it’s Renner’s appearance in Zhou’s Masters of Cinema 2: Chronicles of Disney and his “Oracle of Time” voice-over in Stardust Futures that has the attorney in fighting form.
Deadline exclusively reported on Renner’s participation in the Chinese filmmaker’s Chronicles of Disney last October 9. There was no mention of another film or Stardust Future from Zhou’s Into the Sun shingle at the time.
“My client graciously agreed to support your career by appearing in your documentary about Disney,” Singer writes in his cease-and-desist letter, using tones and terms anyone familiar with the lawyer’s style will recognize. “We have since learned that you are also falsely claiming that my client supposedly narrated an entirely AI generated animated film. My client has no knowledge of and did not willingly participate in any AI generated animation or other project with you, other than her (sic) Disney documentary. Please take notice that if you continue to exploit my client’s name, likeness or voice in connection with any entertainment project other than the Disney documentary for which he was interviewed on July 12, 2025, you will be exposed to multi-millions of dollars in liability for commercial misappropriation of my client’s valuable rights of publicity.”
If Zhou was somehow confused about what the Lavely & Singer co-founder was trying to convey on Renner’s part, the lawyer reiterated his primary star power point in the three-page missive.
“My client is paid millions of dollars to appear in and promote motion pictures,” Singer says of Renner, a two-time Oscar nominee. “You have no right to use his name, likeness or voice in connection with any project other than the Disney documentary. If you continue to exploit my client’s name, voice and likeness for any project other than the Disney documentary without his consent, you will be sued.”
“Let me be very clear: my client has absolutely no intention to engage with you regarding any personal or professional matters whatsoever, and your continued threats will result in legal action including but not limited to a restraining order against you,” Singer says near the end of the letter, in bold and italics.
Credited as an EP on the Johnny Depp-directed Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness, Zhou responded that contrary to Singer’s claims it is Renner who is harassing her and not the other way around. She told Deadline that she hopes Singer could be a “peacemaker” between her and the Mayor of Kingstown star.
Interestingly, almost as an aside, Zhou also claimed there is a “conflict” with Singer representing Renner in this matter, because his firm, though not the lawyer himself, represented her in a prior legal matter.
Regardless, the filmmaker is steadfast that Renner signed a September 15 Talent Release Form for a below-the-line film “tentatively titled Masters of Cinema 2: Chronicles of Disney and all promotional, derivative, or related works derived from it.”
Into The Sun
Citing the July interview and an August follow-up of sorts, Zhou says that Stardust Future was a post-recording “Part 2” evolution of Chronicles of Disney. She also asserts that the release the CAA-repped Renner inked for unpaid participation distinctly makes sure that all dispute procedures are “waived and discharged” for the projects.
Deadline has seen a document alleging to be the release with an apparent “JR” signature but cannot verify its authenticity. Zhou also maintains she sent Renner a cease-and-desist letter over this altercation back in late October.
Speaking to Deadline, Singer calls BS.
“Jeremy did one interview and was only informed that the interview would be for the documentary,” the lawyer says, referring to the Chronicles of Disney project. Singer tells Deadline that it is unclear whether Renner’s Stardust Future V/O is actually him or AI-generated using his voice from the Chronicles of Disney sit-down as a model.
To that, Zhou contends that Renner’s voice on the charity-benefiting Stardust Future, which a press release described as “meditation on survival and transformation,” is 100% real. “We cannot use Ai to replica a person s voice without consent, it is against the law,” she says.
Admitting there is a personal clash between herself and Renner, who was significantly injured after being run over by his own snowplow in 2023, over who is the aggressor in their personal affairs, the filmmaker notes that when it comes to Stardust Futures, Singer’s letter is late to the game.
The film, with Renner’s name attached to it, was announced in mid-October in Deadline’s sister publication Variety, and in a press release that went wide soon afterwards. “Zhou reunites with Jeremy Renner in a narrative that examines time, memory, and rebirth within a cosmic framework,” the press release for the 82-minute feature states. “Proceeds and awareness from the film support the Into the Sun Foundation and the Motion Picture & Television Fund, which assists members of the entertainment community affected by the 2025 California wildfires,” it adds, pointing out that Stardust Future also features “the 3D likeness of Diane von Fürstenberg.”
Sources close to Renner’s team say they were blindsided when the Stardust Future announcement went public last month. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not respond to a request for confirmation of Zhou’s claim that Stardust Future is set to play in the online only Academy Screening Room later this month as part of an awards push.
Still for Zhou, with everything swirling around the Renner controversy, accusations that the animation in Stardust Future isn’t the only AI in the project has struck a nerve. “AI is used in the creative and visual aspects of my work only,” she says in a statement sent to Deadline on Sunday. “Under no circumstances can AI be used to generate screenshots or signed contracts, no AI app allows that. Doing so would constitute falsifying documents, it would be illegal.”
Contacted by Deadline, Singer says there has been no update nor filing in the matter since the weekend.
