UPDATE, 10:44 a.m.: The judge in Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence trial in New York plans to clear the public courtroom of spectators this afternoon.
In the presence of the Loki actor himself, Judge Michael Gaffey will allow Majors’ lawyers to argue behind closed doors for a currently sealed piece of evidence to be permanently kept out of the case.
Judge Gaffey said today in Manhattan on the first day of Majors’ trial on assault and harassment charges related to a March incident against a then-girlfriend being investigated by the NYPD that the information in question was “likely to be prejudicial and inflammatory.” Before prosecutors, To defense attorneys and Majors himself, the Empire State judge added that publicly disclosing the information in question at this time would harm the actor’s ability to seat an impartial jury and receive a fair trial.
Majors could face up to a year in prison if convicted of the four crimes charged against him – the actor had pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Judge Gaffey, who barred reporters from a preliminary hearing in the case in September, concluded that excluding the public from another motion hearing was “the only way” to protect the Majors’ rights. He agreed with Seth Zuckerman, a lawyer for Majors, who had previously told the judge: “We believe that disclosing this one limited matter would irreparably prejudice the jury.”
Earlier today, Majors entered court with his girlfriend and Harlem star Meagan Good by his side. He had sunglasses on and wore a long black winter coat over a double-breasted gray suit. The Magazine Dreams actor placed the glasses in a cup he carried with him at previous hearings. Major also had a Bible with gold leaf pages and a small notebook in his hand – both of which he had already brought with him to court. Before the trial, he sat with Good in the gallery and then winked at her as he sat in the fountain next to the defense attorneys.
As in previous court appearances since his spring arrest, Majors said little today. The actor answered a handful of questions from Judge Gaffey with a simple “Yes, Your Honor,” and when asked if he had any questions of his own, he replied, “No, sir.”
In cases where there are delays – and in rare cases where a misdemeanor charge actually goes to trial – jury selection is still pending and could occur later in the afternoon, but only after Gaffey is heard from the district attorney’s office and the defense has heard about the disputed evidence.
Sources have told Deadline that the sealed documents in question contain information about possible past incidents involving the actor. But details were scarce Wednesday.
“We are flying blind,” Katherine Bolger, an attorney for media organizations demanding the unsealing of the records, told Judge Gaffey. Bolger argued that the information, whatever it was, should be made public. “There is publicity even before the trial,” Bolger said, noting that several news outlets have published previous allegations of misconduct by Majors.
But the judge said the press would likely publish that evidence as soon as it had it, regardless of whether the jury was ever allowed to see it, and that the resulting publicity would “threaten” the jury selection process.
The judge spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon hearing additional motions. He ruled that prosecutors cannot refer to Majors’ accuser, Grace Jabbari, as a “victim” when questioning potential jurors. Judge Gaffey also postponed a decision on whether the jury will hear about Jabbari’s arrest in October, relying on a counterclaim filed by Majors that she assaulted him.
Last month, the Manhattan district attorney’s office made it clear that it would decline to charge Jabbari. On Wednesday, prosecutor Kelli Galaway said in court that “this is not a quid pro quo” in exchange for Jabbari’s expected testimony against Majors. Galaway noted that Jabbari had already cooperated with prosecutors and was not informed of the prosecutor’s decision to forego charges against her until after she self-reported to the NYPD in October.
Majors’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, argued that Jabbari’s arrest, which followed Majors’ counter-complaint this summer and a police investigation into the British citizen’s alleged actions on the night of March 25, was fair game for a jury, even if the DA’s office had jurisdiction, it seemed disinclined to prosecute the Majors’ accuser. “Despite the prosecutor’s witness list, this case is really about a person’s credibility,” Chaudhry said, referring to Jabbari.
At one point during the back-and-forth surrounding Jabbari’s arrest, Judge Gaffney stated, “Can we all agree that this whole situation is very unusual?”
BEFORE, 6 AM: After repeated delays and arguments between attorneys over the conduct of the case, Jonathan Majors goes on trial this morning in New York City on assault and harassment charges.
If the star of “Creed III and Loki” is found guilty, he could face up to a year in prison – and unforeseen consequences for the rest of his career.
The Majors are likely to be present in the Manhattan courtroom as jury selection begins today. A New York judge is expected to hear a request from a handful of news organizations to unseal documents if sources provide information about possible past incidents involving the actor, according to Deadline.
Prosecutors will argue that Majors became violent toward his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari during a car ride from her Chelsea apartment that came to an abrupt stop in Chinatown on the night of March 25.
NYPD officers, who responded after Majors himself called 911, found Jabbari with bruising, swelling, cuts and a broken finger and arrested the actor, authorities said. After a hearing, he was released and ordered to avoid contact with Jabbari. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Majors later filed a counterclaim with police, saying an out-of-control Jabbari instigated the violence and left him bloodied as he tried to restrain them. He said she thought another woman had been texting him while they were in the car.
Citing text messages between the couple and surveillance camera footage related to the incident, Majors’ lawyer Priya Chaudhry described him as a victim of escalating domestic violence at the hands of a controlling and abusive partner. Chaudhry has described her client as the target of a “witch hunt” fueled by deep-rooted racial bias by police against black defendants versus white accusers and by a Manhattan district attorney’s office determined to move forward even as the accuser’s story unravels.
Prosecutors declined to charge Jabbari after she turned herself in to police in October to respond to Majors’ complaint. Despite trial delays that stretched over the summer and into the fall, the DA’s office said it “looks forward to presenting the full facts and evidence in court.”
Jabbari, who worked as a movement coach for the Majors during filming, is expected to travel from her home in London to testify for the prosecution about what happened between them that night eight months ago.
What is undisputed is the professional toll that the Majors’ arrest took. Despite appearing in the second season of Disney+’s Loki, he was dropped by management company Entertainment 360 and publicist The Lede Company in April. Previously announced roles for the Emmy-nominated star of “Max’s Lovecraft Country” dried up and advertising campaigns for the U.S. Army and the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers were canceled.
In October, Disney removed from its release schedule the film “Magazine Dreams,” which featured a lead performance by majors that was already generating Oscar buzz.
RELATED: ‘Magazine Dreams’ Jonathan Majors talks about transitioning into the role of a troubled bodybuilder, joining the Marvel Universe and getting hit hard by Michael B. Jordan in ‘Creed III’ – Sundance
Majors’ legal team asked for the case to be dismissed, claiming in court filings that prosecutors had failed to provide the necessary evidence. The prosecutor responded in October, denying allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and adding information – but not details – about an incident in London in September 2022 in which Majors filmed Loki, which led to a police report.
It is unclear whether prosecutors will be able to introduce these or other prior allegations under a New York legal standard that, in rare cases, allows evidence from previous, unprosecuted cases in a new criminal case.
A DA spokesman had no comment and a request for comment from Majors’ lawyers went unanswered.