Related Articles
Jonathan Majors was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend on Monday, with a jury finding him guilty of harassment in the second degree and misdemeanor assault in the third degree.
Majors was found not guilty on two other counts of aggravated harassment and assault with the intention of causing physical injury following a three-day jury deliberation in the Marvel star’s domestic violence trial. He faces up to a year in jail, and a tentative sentencing date has been scheduled for February 2024.
The 34-year-old was arrested on March 25 following a fight with his then-girlfriend, professional dancer Grace Jabbari. Prosecutors alleged that during a dispute, Majors tried to get a phone back from Jabbari by twisting her arm behind her back, squeezing and prying her fingers, striking her in the back of her head, and shoving her back into a car.
Majors was found guilty of a charge of assault by recklessly causing physical injury and a harassment violation after Jabbari sustained a fractured finger and a cut to the back of her ear stemming from the fight in the car.
Majors’ attorney Priya Chaudhry said in a statement provided to Rolling Stone: “It is clear that the jury did not believe Grace Jabbari’s story of what happened in the SUV because they found that Mr. Majors did not intentionally cause any injuries to her. We are grateful for that … We are disappointed, however, that despite not believing Ms. Jabbari, the jury nevertheless found that Mr. Majors was somehow reckless while she was attacking him.” (There is no indication or evidence the jury did not believe Jabbari, or that Chaudhry knew anything about juror deliberation.)
Jabbari’s attorney Brittany Henderson said “justice has been served by today’s verdict,” in a statement provided to Rolling Stone. “Today has shown us that no abuser, no matter how powerful they may seem, is above the law,” Henderson said. “Ms. Jabbari has shown irrefutable strength and poise while being forced to relive, both in court and very publicly, the abuse she was subjected to. Her unwavering resolve to see this case through to the end is borne out of a desire to show other survivors and victims of domestic violence, that they too, can hold their abuser accountable. Ms. Jabbari hopes that her actions will inspire other survivors to speak out and seek justice.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, said in a statement provided to Rolling Stone: “The evidence presented throughout this trial illustrated a cycle of psychological and emotional abuse, and escalating patterns of coercion far too common across the many intimate partner violence cases we see each and every day.”
“Today, a jury determined that pattern of abuse and coercion culminated with Mr. Majors assaulting and harassing his girlfriend,” Bragg added. “We thank the jury for its service and the survivor for bravely telling her story despite having to relive her trauma on the stand.”
The verdict comes months after Rolling Stone reported in June that Majors physically and/or emotionally abused two previous romantic partners, according to a dozen sources who knew the women. Majors allegedly strangled one woman he was dating, and was mentally and emotionally abusive with her, nine of those sources claim. The second woman allegedly told friends that her relationship with Majors was “emotional torture” and there were moments of “near violence”, where he would “get filled with rage” and “hit something or punch a wall.” (Majors denied that he was ever abusive in any relationships.)
Majors maintained his innocence throughout the case. His defense attorney, Priya Chaudhry, has claimed that Jabbari was the aggressor the night of the fight and made false accusations in an act of “revenge” after she oversaw Majors receiving a romantic text from another woman. Majors pleaded not guilty to the four misdemeanor charges of assault and harassment.
During closing arguments last Thursday, Majors silently cried and dabbed at his face with a tissue as Chaudhry said his “fear of when a Black man in America calls 911 comes true. And now we are here.” Majors’ girlfriend, actress Meagan Good, also began to cry, and Chaudhry herself broke down as she closed her argument, choking up as she said, “You are here to end this nightmare for Jonathan Majors. You are here to see what is obvious…Jonathan Majors is innocent.”
Meanwhile, assistant district attorney Kelli Galaway told the jury in her closing statements that Jabbari was not the bitter or revengeful ex-girlfriend Chaudhry painted her to be. Instead, Jabbari went to lengths to “protect” Majors, even when questioned by police and medics who arrived at their apartment. She focused on Jabbari’s injuries and the events that happened inside the car, instead of what Jabbari did following the alleged attack. “Domestic violence is serious,” she added. “Victims of domestic violence struggle to report and when they do there are critiques on how they do it.”
The trial stretched two weeks —an anomaly for a misdemeanor case, where a majority of cases never reach a jury trial stage. Jabbari took the stand for four days to testify about her relationship with Majors after meeting on the set of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in the summer of 2021. What Jabbari described as a whirlwind romance began to deteriorate by the end of that year, with Jababri saying she had grown “scared” of Majors.
Majors would allegedly fly into a “rage,” attempt to control her behavior, throw glass objects around her, blame her for his emotions, and routinely threaten to commit suicide in the aftermath of such incidents, Jabbari told the court. Jabbari testified that she felt responsible for Majors’ emotions and grew increasingly isolated from her friends and family because she felt like she was “lying” by hiding aspects of her relationship from them.
One of the most explosive revelations in court came from a September 2022 text conversation between Majors and Jabbari, who was discussing a head injury and wanting to go to the hospital while Majors pleaded with her not to go, saying it could result in an “investigation.” He later threatened to kill himself, wondering if he was a “monster.”
The texts were from Molineux evidence —a legal term that provides a pathway for prosecutors to use prior events to help prove that a defendant’s conduct is “inextricably interwoven with the charged acts.” Judge Michael Gaffey initally ruled that a majority of the Molineux evidence was inadmissible. However, during Chaudhry’s cross-examination of Jabbari, Judge Gaffey determined the line of questioning had allowed the evidence into the trial.
While the trial in New York comes to a close, there still is a looming investigation in London following New York prosecutors noting they had obtained a police report from Metropolitan Police stemming from a September 2022 incident. Last month, London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed to Rolling Stone that there is an ongoing investigation into a September 2022 incident that included allegations of “physical assaults.”
Before his March arrest, Majors was on track to have his biggest year yet, following the releases of Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He was also receiving early Oscar buzz for his performance as a lonely bodybuilder with violent fantasies in Magazine Dreams. However, Majors was quickly dropped by both his management and publicist teams in the wake of the accusations, and Searchlight Pictures indefinitely postponed Magazine Dreams’ December theatrical release. All that seems to be left on Majors’ calling card is Marvel, who was planning on centering the next edition of the franchise on Majors’ character, the multiverse villain Kang the Conqueror, starting with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2026.
This article has been updated with statements from attorneys representing the parties involved.
