Right before New Year’s it broke that Jeremy Renner’s wife, Sonni Pacheco, filed for divorce.The filing was pretty sensational, accusing him of fraud and of stealing her identification documents, preventing her from leaving the country. Renner hasn’t said anything publicly, but he’s started making some indirect moves, setting up his side of the story, and it’s all about his daughter, Ava.
First up, he posted a photo of Ava on his WhoSay (aka, that social media platform only celebrities seem to use), which I believe is the first “authorized” picture of her in nearly two years. It’s a cute photo if you like dudes holding babies—but WTF with that filter—and the message is clear: Ava is his priority, she’s very important to him, he’s going to fight for her. Which is the sentiment echoed by an unnamed source talking to E! about how he only married Pacheco for Ava’s sake and how he “only cares about being a dad”. The source also explicitly states Renner was worried about Pacheco taking the kid back to Canada.
After Pacheco’s rather incendiary divorce filing, I’m sort of surprised that Renner’s volley is so mild. Certainly, it’s not very flattering toward Pacheco or his marriage, which he “wanted out of” from the get. But besides the comment about him worrying about the Canada thing, there’s no attempt from Renner’s side to address the fraud or stolen documents part of Pacheco’s suit. But then, maybe that is the strategy. Custody battles always come down to which parent seems more fit, and Pacheco has a good case given how much time Renner spends away from home working. Renner’s best bet, then, might be to make Pacheco look vindictive while he is the calm, stable one. Oh man. This is going to get straight-up nasty.
