There aren’t going to be any winners in the acrimonious custody battle between Hawkeye star Jeremy Renner and his ex-wife Sonni Pacheco.
This sorry situation exploded into the public eye when Pacheco applied for sole custody of their six-year-old daughter Ava earlier this month. Her case is that Renner is a dangerous presence: abusing drugs, physically harming her and, in one shocking allegation, that he put a gun in his mouth and threatened suicide. She even claimed that Renner has physically and sexually abused his daughter, which if proven true is just horrifying. In addition, the couple’s former nanny later backed-up Pacheco’s story.
Renner denied the accusations, and has now kicked things up a notch by making a counter-accusation that Pacheco is an “‘unstable liar” and that her allegations about him are “absolute nonsense.” These come via documents filed by Renner’s lawyer, which have today been published by TMZ.
He also counters that a photograph Pacheco submitted to the court as corroborating her story about the gun has been “grossly doctored.” On top of all that, he’s claiming that she’s so unstable that she only be allowed supervised access to their daughter.
In a quote given to TMZ, Renner’s representative said:
“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.”
Next to all that, talking about his upcoming Hawkeye Disney+ series feels trivial, but if a judge accepts Pacheco’s allegations as fact, then it’s all but certain Disney will put the brakes on it (they’re reportedly not interested in recasting the role). Right now, there’s been no word from the studio, but it’s safe to say that they’re probably nervously evaluating the accusations, with the physical and sexual abuse allegations potentially fatal to Renner’s future at the Mouse House even if he wins the case.
More on this as and when we hear it, but I suspect there won’t be a happy ending to this sad story.