Jonathan Majors Has Been Found Guilty of Assault and Harassment
Jonathan Majors was found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment by a New York jury on Monday. The Marvel actor had been accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari in a March 25 domestic dispute in New York City earlier this year.
The verdict was reached by a six-person jury after just over four hours of deliberation across three days. The jury found Majors not guilty of two additional charges of intentional assault in the third degree and aggravated harassment in second degree. As the verdict was read, the 34-year-old sat with his attorneys, family members, and his girlfriend, Meagan Good, behind him. He had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges at the start of the trial on Nov. 29, 2023.
Majors had faced four total charges of assault, aggravated harassment, and harassment in the criminal trial. In the March incident, he had called 911 when he found Jabbari unconscious in their shared apartment, following an argument in the back of a cab several hours earlier. The 30-year-old actress said that she had attempted to grab Majors phone after seeing an incriminating text message from another woman. He then pried the phone from her hand, grabbed her arm and right hand, twisted her forearm, and struck her head to get the phone back.
Jabbari then exited the vehicle, at which point she was seen in surveillance footage looking "visibly upset, crying, and seeking help from strangers to get an Uber home," according to court documents.
Police arrested Majors after emergency personnel found that Jabbari had a laceration behind her ear and a bruised and fractured finger. Although the defense questioned why she had not initially been forthcoming about her injuries, prosecutors introduced a series of September 2022 texts into evidence in which Majors had previously begged her not to go to the hospital lest he be implicated in a crime.
"I fear you have no perspective of what could happen if you go to the hospital," he texted at the time, which Jabbari tearfully read in court on her fourth and final day on the stand. "They will ask you questions, and as I don’t think you actually protect us, it could lead to investigation even if you do lie, and they suspect something."
Though the texts were initially deemed inadmissible, Judge Michael Gaffey allowed them to be shown to jury members following the line of cross-examination from Majors’ defense team.
Following the verdict, a Disney representative confirmed the studio's decision to not move forward with Majors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He had previously played the villain Kang the Conqueror in the MCU’s phases four through six.
Sentencing is currently set for Feb. 6, 2024.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.