Freshly out of a 20-year marriage, divorcée Marnie Reeves claims she turned to her former high schoolmate-turned-Hollywood superstar for some male attention.
The Modesto, California, native claims she ‘liked’ Jeremy Renner’s official Instagram post in April 2023 while he was recovering from a near-fatal snowplow accident.
But the seemingly innocent social media move allegedly kickstarted a series of events. Reeves claims she was then contacted by an unverified account claiming to be Renner that has allegedly scammed her out of $23,450 and hundreds more in legal fees, as she lays out in a lawsuit against Renner, 55, for fraud.
‘I have been mentally sick, and could not eat for [a] year, lost my hair my dignity and my self worth,’ Reeves, 56, wrote in a 549-page complaint filed in December 2024.
‘I just came out of 20-year abusive marriage just to get connected to Jeremy Renner,’ according to the complaint.
Renner, however, has adamantly denied having ever spoken to Reeves and claims she was duped by an internet scammer using his name for monetary gain.
A woman has accused Jeremy Renner of duping her into a ‘romance scam.’ He has adamantly denied the allegations in several legal filings obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail
Marnie Reeves, 56, spoke exclusively to the Daily Mail about the fraud lawsuit she filed against the Hollywood star, 55. She claims she and the actor sent sexy messages to each other in 2023
‘This case is not about anything Defendant Jeremy Renner did,’ the actor’s high-powered lawyers said in a legal filing obtained by the Daily Mail.
‘It is nothing more than frivolous litigation premised entirely on Plaintiff’s self-generated belief that she was in a romantic relationship with Defendant—a belief that has no basis in fact.’
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Reeves refused to back down on her belief that she was indeed romantically involved with the real Renner.
She also claims in her complaint that the actor allegedly conspired with his relatives to help him defraud her.
According to Reeves, after ‘liking’ Renner’s post, she began engaging with a man claiming to be the Bourne Legacy star. He never used Renner’s verified Instagram account to communicate with her, though, and so she admits many have dismissed it as a ‘catfish situation.’ She has not.
Reeves claims in her complaint that shortly after that first message, she then connected with who she believed was Renner’s mother, Valerie Cearley, on Instagram. They allegedly exchanged pleasantries over their hometown of Modesto, and Reeves claims the matriarch eventually gave her Renner’s personal number.
‘I’m sure he’s going to be happy a classmate would like to talk to him,’ Reeves claimed Cearley told her.
The Daily Mail has verified that the account Reeves interacted with no longer exists and it appears that Cearley’s real Instagram account is under a different handle. Cearley could not be reached for comment.
After obtaining a number she believed belonged to Renner, Reeves said she and whom she thought was the actor spoke via WhatsApp nearly every day for hours from April to August 2023.
!['I have been mentally sick, and could not eat for [a] year, lost my hair my dignity and myself worth,' Reeves alleged in her 2024 legal complaint](https://www.americanpolibeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/1773277942_346_Jeremy-Renner-accused-of-scamming-a-woman-into-a-romantic.jpg)
‘I have been mentally sick, and could not eat for [a] year, lost my hair my dignity and myself worth,’ Reeves alleged in her 2024 legal complaint
Reeves claimed she also spoke with Renner’s mother, Valerie Cearley, (pictured) via Instagram direct message, but the Daily Mail has not corroborated that the social media account was Cearley
However, very early on, she said she received messages about payments from a person using the moniker Lasse Larsson, whom she believed was part of Renner’s management team. The messages implored her to buy a ‘fan card’ and make other purchases in order to keep communicating with the actor.
Renner’s lawyers have denied that their client has any involvement with Larsson.
The Daily Mail reviewed dozens of emails and text messages submitted into evidence that were sent between May to August 2023. Most of the communication saw Reeves referred to as ‘madam,’ had grammatical errors and demanded large sums of money.
A May 2023 email listed options for a ‘normal’ package for $1,100, a ‘VIP Silver Ticket’ for $3850, a ‘VIP Gold Ticket’ for $5789 and a ‘VIP Diamond ticket’ for $10,888.
Reeves said she complied with the $1,100 fee at first because at that point she and the man she believes was Renner had only communicated via written messages and she wanted to hear and see him on a call.
She told the Daily Mail she allegedly only ever spoke with whom she believes was Renner once via Google Chat video, while he was allegedly driving. Renner has denied this claim.
‘He didn’t look me directly in the face because he was driving, but he would turn and I did see him – I knew it was him, so that was the only phone call I got from him,’ she claimed. The Daily Mail has not obtained evidence of the alleged Google Chat phone records, as Reeves claims they are pending a subpoena.
Despite not seeing Renner as much as she would have liked, Reeves believed she and the Hurt Locker star were developing a strong romantic and sexual bond virtually.
‘I have pictures of his genitals and he has video of me that he threatens me with,’ she claimed via her complaint.
Reeves claimed she was defrauded out of more than $20,000 in the purported ‘romance scam’
Emails submitted to the court as evidence show Reeves engaging with an unknown person named Lasse Larsson, who requested significant amounts of money in order to meet ‘Mr Jeremy’ Renner
An affectionate message submitted into evidence reads: ‘Marnie, notifications from you is like music to ny [sic] ears, want to always see you pop up on my screen.
‘But my love, above all want to really touch and feel you and kiss you. I want to whispher [sic] how much love you in your ears while hugging you with my arms round your waist.’
A distraught Reeves declared via her complaint: ‘I let him back into my life like stupid woman where he proceeded to get more money from me.
‘He really brainwashed me, convinced me that he was coming. I waited all night for him in December because had to pick him up at Sacramento airport, he never came again.’
After a year, Reeves lost a total of $23,450 in what she now calls a ‘romance scam.’
Renner has told the court via his lawyers in response: ‘Plaintiff allegedly sent money to unknown third parties who apparently exploited her expectations by dangling “opportunities” to meet Defendant. Defendant had no involvement in those transactions, did not solicit them, and has never had any relationship with Plaintiff.’
In addition, the Avengers star reportedly has an estimated net worth of $80 million.
When the Daily Mail asked Reeves what Renner’s motive would be to scam her since he is allegedly so wealthy, she replied: ‘Control. Sexual stuff.’
‘It’s all, “Let’s just see what I can get out of these girls. Let them love me.” He’s an attention-grabber. He love-bombs them,’ she said.
Reeves claimed she received romantic messages from who she believed was Renner (pictured), which reads in part: ‘I want to really touch and feel you and kiss you’
Reeves shared with the Daily Mail that she grew frustrated as she paid more and more money yet never got to actually meet Renner or speak with him at length over the phone
Reeves said that through an independent investigation she conducted herself, she allegedly discovered that around four to five people are behind the accounts she wire transferred her money to, but she still thinks Renner is involved.
Reeves alleged to the Daily Mail and in court docs that she believes those individuals are Renner’s ‘family members.’
She provided the court with results from TruthFinder – a website that pulls information from social media, police records, background checks, civil judgments and more – as alleged evidence the co-conspirators were related to Renner.
TruthFinder states via its website that ‘its accuracy varies, with reports often containing outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.’
Renner’s lawyers told the court that Reeves’ involvement of their client’s family members is ‘irrelevant and outrageous and should be rejected.’
‘Rather than investigate facts, Plaintiff engaged in what amounts to digital fishing—plucking random names from TruthFinder, ChatGPT and MetaAI, chasing each new name down another internet rabbit hole, and stitching together whatever appears into a fabricated story,’ the lawyers added.
‘The result is not evidence, but a narrative reverse-engineered from online search results and divorced from both the pleadings and reality.’
Reeves’ case against Renner is set to go to trial in August 2026, per the California court docket
Renner’s lawyers have said via an opposition filed with the court: ‘It is nothing more than frivolous litigation premised entirely on Plaintiff’s self-generated belief that she was in a romantic relationship with Defendant—a belief that has no basis in fact’
For more than five years, people purporting to be the Mayor of Kingstown star have allegedly been scamming his fans.
A 2019 Facebook post from a Crime Stoppers group warned: ‘We are aware of a recent Romance scam where a person purporting to be actor Jeremy Renner has been engaging with women through social media sites. Renner has sent out messages on his own social media accounts warning people of this scam.’
Renner himself warned his fans last year via his verified Facebook account, writing: ‘Be careful. I’ll never ask for money …
‘SCAMMERS want money …. They’ll use my photos , fake ids , videos, and ai voice notes etc to get your money. Keep it to yourself Bless you and be safe. Thx.’
Reeves told the Daily Mail that if Renner really isn’t behind the scam, then she doesn’t understand why he has not taken his own legal action to prosecute the alleged perpetrators.
‘If Jeremy was not involved in this … I have given him so much information …,’ she said before asking why he won’t ‘involve the FBI and law enforcement’ to ‘let’s go get these people’ rather than ‘just denying.’
The case is set to go to trial in August pending a judge does not dismiss it sooner.
Renner’s attorney Marty D. Singer told the Daily Mail exclusively: ‘This is one of the most ridiculous lawsuits I’ve ever had in my over 40 years of practice. It’s absurd.
‘We still feel confident we’ll get this case thrown out. We intend to file the motions to try to get the case dismissed.’
