This is one of those stories that, quite frankly, could only exist in the modern world.
Jeremy Renner, the actor behind such movies as 'The Bourne Legacy' and appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hawkeye, had an app about... well, himself? The app - titled 'Jeremy Renner Official' - saw well-meaning fans of the actor come together in a community to share thoughts, images and videos of Renner, or 'J-Rens' as he's known in his community. However, in the past few weeks, the app had apparently been infiltrated by trolls.
According to Renner's official statement on the closing of the app, "(due) to clever individuals that were able to manipulate ways to impersonate me and others within the app, I have asked ESCAPEX, the company that runs this app, to shut it down immediately and refund anyone who has purchased any stars over the last 90 days."
Stars, by the way, were an in-app currency people could buy... uh, things? No clue. Anyway, Renner's statement concludes by saying that the app "has turned into a place that is everything I detest and can’t or won’t condone."
What kind of stuff are we talking about, you say? Take a look at these.
In the past few days the Jeremy Renner app has turned into the darkest corner of the internet pic.twitter.com/SuywxqLx7m
— Chris Baio (@OIAB) August 30, 2019
The Jeremy Renner app is pure chaos I can’t get enough pic.twitter.com/OLmlPRxWlQ
— Kenjac (@JackKennedy) August 29, 2019
Obviously, Renner's shutting down of the app has sparked even more interest in the story, but the thing to remember here is that we live in a world where mid-tier, generally forgettable actors like Jeremy Renner can somehow support an app and even charge people for in-app currency. What does the currency buy?
So many questions left unanswered. And now we'll never know what they were for.