Jeremy Renner recently addressed the longstanding controversy with his former wife Sonni Pacheco, and has denied abuse allegations from the past. During an interview with Men’s Health the MCU actor mentioned that the claims made by his ex were ‘nonsensical’:
“I don’t respond publicly or privately to nonsense. It only empowers it… If you respond to it, you give it gas. I don’t fuel s**t fires. I just don’t do it. I refuse to.”
Jeremy Renner and Sonni Pacheco tied the knot in 2014 but parted ways less than a year after their marriage. The pair filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences” and their legal separation was finalized in 2015.
The duo have been embroiled in a harsh custody battle over their eight-year-old daughter, Ava, and currently share joint custody of her. In 2019, Pacheco accused Renner of domestic abuse during their relationship.
Everything about Sonni Pacheco, Jeremy Renner’s ex-wife
Sonni Pacheco is a Canadian model, actress and sculptor. She was born in Pitt Meadows, Canada and began her career in the entertainment industry as a model. She also ventured into acting and appeared in films like The Wingman and American Pie Presents: The Book of Love.
In 2013, she was appointed spokesperson for Monster Energy Drinks. However, she left behind her career in entertainment and established herself as a sculptor. She currently has her own sculpting studio and shares her artwork on social media.
According to Saatchi Art, the model started sculpting when she was pregnant and uses her art as a form of therapy:
“Each piece is sculpted with clay- a therapeutic medium she’s worked with since pregnant with her daughter- giving her a malleable sense of storytelling that has helped shape her identity and the underlying identities of her pieces.”
Sonni came under the spotlight after she started dating Jeremy Renner. The pair reportedly met on the set of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2011, and welcomed their daughter Ava in 2013. They also married the following year but their union ended in a highly-publicized, bitter divorce.
A look into Jeremy Renner and Sonni Pacheco’s controversy
Jeremy Renner and Sonni Pacheco have continued to make news for controversies surrounding their relationship nearly seven years after their divorce. The duo parted ways in 2014 and the latter claimed that the Avengers star owed her $50,000 in child support.
The exes agreed on joint custody in 2015, and Renner decided to pay $16,000 for support, with $24,000 for legal and accounting fees.
In fresh court documents filed in 2019, Pacheco claimed that the Mayor of Kingstown actor was “emotionally, verbally and physically” abusive to her during their marriage.
Sonni alleged that her former husband once put a gun in her mouth under influence and threatened to kill himself and his wife. She also claimed that he fired the gun into the ceiling while their daughter was asleep in her bedroom.
The former model also mentioned that the Hawkeye star allegedly told the nanny “it was better that Ava had no parents than to have her [Sonni] as a mother.”
However, Jeremy Renner’s representatives have refuted the claims and told Page Six at the time:
“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.”
In 2020, Pacheco accused Jeremy Renner of substance abuse and asked the judge to conduct a “routine drug testing”:
“[Jeremy Renner] has a long history of alcohol and drug abuse which has persisted since before the parties’ marriage, through divorce and post-judgment.”
However, the actor dismissed the demands in his court documents:
“There is absolutely no basis for this Court to grant the requested relief with respect to a drug test.”
Meanwhile, Jeremy Renner also requested the court to lower the child support fees during the pandemic, stating that his monthly income has been reduced from $30,000 to $11,000 due to COVID-19.
He also alleged that Sonni Pacheco misused the child support funds to cover her own expenses including “property taxes, attorney’s fees, and other expenses completely unrelated to the minor.”
In response, Sonni Pacheco told Page Six that the claims were an attempt to reduce child support fees:
“It is very disheartening that in a time of global crisis there is yet another attempt to reduce funds I rely on to provide for our child. This is a small insight of what I have been dealing with over the years. Which leads us to now, the upcoming court case — about me “Misappropriating Ava's Funds’ and Jeremy seeking to reduce child support.”
It remains to be seen if Sonni Pacheco will respond to Jeremy Renner’s recent remarks about the abuse allegations amid their ongoing legal battle.