Hawkeye star Jeremy Renner entangled in feud with his ex: the full story
Jeremy Renner has been one of Marvel Studio’s best loved actors in the last few years. He plays the endearing, yet troubled Hawkeye in the MCU. This arrow-shooting character joined the Avengers and now steals the show with a spinoff series of his own.
The new series, released on 24th November, pushed actor Jeremy Renner and his co-star Hailee Steinfield into the spotlight once more. The Marvel series success is not the only reason why Jeremy has found his name in the press, though.
The star has made headlines due to his rocky relationship with his ex-wife, Sonni Pacheco (pictured). The couple split nearly seven years ago, but recently their relationship caught the interest of the press due to allegations of past abuse. Here's the full story.
It was widely rumoured that Jeremy Renner and Sonni Pacheco secretly married in 2014. Pacheco is the mother to Renner’s daughter, and the two had been in a relationship for some time.
On December 30, 2014, Pacheco filed for divorce from Renner, citing "irreconcilable differences."
Sonni's request for the divorce from Renner allegedly came after only 10 months of marriage. It seemed the pair just couldn’t get along, and a bitter separation followed.
At the time of their divorce, E! News reported that Pacheco asked Renner to return her allegedly stolen passport, birth certificate, and Social Security card. TMZ also had screenshots of a text conversation that show the two discussing the alleged theft. It wasn’t going to be an ‘easy’ divorce.
Pacheco requested that their prenup be considered fraudulent and asked to have it absolved. The prenup stated that the ex-wife would not receive spouse support. According to Forbes, prenups can be considered fraudulent if assets were not fully disclosed, if one of the parties didn’t have proper legal representation, or if the agreement was signed under duress or without mental capacity.
It seems that the reasons behind Renner’s ‘fraudulent' prenup are not as black-and-white as Pacheco makes them out to be. According to In Touch - who have exclusively obtained the divorce documents - there are allegations of drug abuse and violent and abusive behaviour in Sonni's official statements.
Pacheco made strong allegations against the Marvel star. According to the legal documents acquired by In Touch, Pachecho alleged that Renner threw wild parties while he was in charge of looking after their daughter.
These same documents discuss one specific event that Sonni Pacheco found troublesome. As Renner’s ex-wife explains in the court papers, their daughter came downstairs to look for her father one day, only to find him passed out in a hot tub with two women.
The couple had joint custody, with Renner paying $13,000 a month in child support, until Sonni Pacheco started accusing him in custody documents in 2019. While their daughter has been the main reason for their enduring conflict, serious allegations also include attempts of murder and taking his own life.
A friend of Renner’s, Lily, witnessed his behaviour first-hand back in 2018. In Touch published a conversation with Lily in which she expressed her concerns for Pacheco and Ava’s wellbeing after a night with Jeremy Renner and his family had turned sour.
Lily said that Jeremy Renner had been drinking and, once home, pulled out a gun from a safe, cocked it and ‘wove it around in despair’. He then proceeded to put the barrel in his mouth and threatened to take his life. Renner denied the story, saying that Lily herself was under the influence and had fabricated the events.
Pacheco has also claimed Renner continues to fall behind on child support payments. The debt is now more than half a million dollars, according to official court documents obtained by The Blast.
Renner has bit back on that allegation, saying that Pacheco misappropriated $50,000 of their daughter’s trust fund. Speaking to Page Six, which had revealed this claim, Pacheco strongly denied it.
Renner’s lawyer spoke out in a statement to Page Six and said Pacheco’s allegations were 'one-sided.' "The well-being of his daughter Ava has always been, and continues to be, the primary focus for Jeremy. This is a matter for the court to decide. It’s important to note the dramatizations made in Sonni’s declaration are a one-sided account made with a specific goal in mind."
Could Jeremy’s troubled past have something to do with the alleged behaviour? His own parents married as teenagers and divorced when he was ten years old. During that time, his parents had six more children, which means Jeremy is the oldest of seven siblings. It may have been a lot to take on at ten years old.
In his professional career, he has gone from strength to strength, appearing in music videos, the classic 'The Hurt Locker' and ‘The Bourne Legacy’ for which he did all his own stunts. He also runs a real-estate renovation company with a friend. But, of course, at this moment, Renner is best known as Hawkeye.
Although Hawkeye is a success story, the actor's Marvel journey hasn’t been plain sailing. In an interview with Men’s Health, Renner reflected on a difficult time with Marvel Studios, saying he nearly packed up his arrows and left years ago.
Renner says he told the studio to adjust his work schedule so he could spend more time with his daughter. If not, they could recast him. Obviously, the two parties made a negotiation and Hawkeye remains a fundamental character in the Avengers storyline.
Read more: the outrageous divorce claims of Phil Collins' ex-wife. Is it true that he never showers?