Jonathan Majors was one of Hollywood's great promises. However, this Monday, the 34-year-old actor was found guilty in a Manhattan court of beating Grace Jabbari, his ex-partner. A six-member jury heard two weeks of testimony about how the protagonist of Creed III and Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania attacked and harassed his then-girlfriend, a 30-year-old British dancer, earlier this year. Majors and his defense team hoped the trial would help clarify the artist's reputation. Instead, he will hear the sentence against him on February 6th.
After the verdict was announced, Marvel fired Majors, who played Kang the Conqueror in the latest installment of the microscopic hero. This closes the doors to the comic company's film universe. In another case, the artist was also acquitted of further charges of serious bodily harm and harassment.
The scandal plaguing the majors erupted in March. Later that month, the actor was arrested in New York after Jabbari filed a domestic violence lawsuit. The dancer, who testified on the witness stand for four days, accused her boyfriend of hitting her in the forehead with his open hand in the back seat of a car. The actor also twisted his arm behind his back and squeezed a finger on his hand until it broke. This news was announced just days after the actor received rave reviews following the premiere of Magazine Dreams at Sundance. The premiere of the film he produced was canceled following Disney's accusation.
The two-week trial showcased the dynamic of the couple, who met two years ago while filming the Marvel Studios film. Prosecutors presented evidence showing the actor's “cruel and manipulative” behavior. One of the elements that came to light during the trial was an audio recorded by Jabbari in September 2022. In it, Majors could be heard reprimanding her for her behavior. “How dare you come home drunk and disturb the peace of our home when we have a plan,” the actor said. “I am a great man. “I do great things, not only for myself, but for my culture and for the world,” says Majors, who demands that his partner behave on a par with the wives of great men like Martin Luther King and Barack Obama.
Jabbari's legal team showed jurors text messages in which Majors displayed manipulative behavior. In one of them, he asked him not to go to the hospital to treat a previous head injury for fear of the questions the doctor would ask him. “This could lead to an investigation even if you lie and they suspect something,” the Texas-born artist wrote. “I won't go to the hospital if you don't feel safe doing so. “I promise you I would never mention you, but I understand your fear,” Jabbari then replied. In the same conversation, Majors threatened suicide because he felt unloved at times.
Majors came to court every day with a Bible in hand and accompanied by his new partner, actress Meagan Good. . His defense initially said that Jabbari was the attacker. In March, the actress even told NBC that she admitted to using physical violence. The legal team argued that he had a fit of jealousy after Majors received a text message from another woman on his cell phone. The lawyers assured that he was only trying to recover his phone because the dancer and actress had a “fantasy” of ending the actor’s career. During the trial, lawyers said Jabbari lied multiple times to get revenge on a partner who had been unfaithful to him.
During the trial, they presented a video showing Majors fleeing from Jabbari, who was chasing him through the streets of New York. According to the actor's lawyers, later that night the dancer followed a group of strangers to a nightclub where she bought them drinks. “She celebrated to get revenge and paid for the champagne with the credit card of the man she was angry with,” said Priya Chaudhry, Majors' lawyer. She claimed her client was the one who called the police the next morning when the artist found Jabbari unconscious in a closet. Police then arrested Majors and sent the dancer to the hospital. Hours later he was released with a restraining order.