Jonathan Majors, here at the Creed III premiere, faces career cuts amid domestic violence charges. (Photo: Invision/AP)
TO UPDATE: No wonder people in the entertainment industry distance themselves from Jonathan Majors. Other alleged victims have apparently come forward and are cooperating with the Manhattan Attorney’s Office, Variety reports. Yahoo Entertainment reached out to the actor’s agent, but didn’t immediately receive a response. The prosecutor’s office has not commented.
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It’s been more than three weeks since Jonathan Majors was arrested over an alleged domestic dispute, but the 33-year-old’s career is now starting to take a hit. Majors, one of Hollywood’s hottest young stars, was dropped by his manager and publicist on Monday, Yahoo can confirm. Considering the actor’s first court date is weeks away, the timing appears to portend further ramifications, says a crisis PR expert.
“Relationships between a client and their agent and publicist must be built on honesty and trust, so to me this signals that the talent team has received information that will go against their professional mission and will prevent them from forging a working relationship moving forward,” Ronn Torossian, founder and chairman of 5WPR, told Yahoo.
Majors was arrested on March 25 for allegedly assaulting a 30-year-old woman. An attorney for the Marvel star previously told Yahoo he “completely denies assaulting the woman” and said she expects her client to be cleared of the assault and molestation charges. But it seems some in the industry won’t wait until May 8, when Majors is expected to appear in court to find out.
Deadline reported on Tuesday that Majors has been dropped from several projects. The actor was due to star and executive produce alongside Willem Dafoe on The Man in My Basement but has now been dropped. (Protagonist Pictures did not respond to Yahoo’s request for comment.) He was also removed from a Texas Rangers MLB ad campaign due to debut Friday and is no longer eligible to star in an Otis Redding, according to the same report.
The story goes on
2023 looked to be quite a year for majors. The Lovecraft country scene thief starred in the box office hits Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He reprises his role as Kang the Conqueror in Season 2 of Disney+ Loki, which has already been filmed. (His future in the MCU is unclear, and a Marvel representative has not responded to Yahoo’s request for comment.) The Yale University graduate is also already generating Oscar buzz for his appearance in Magazine Dreams, which wowed audiences at the Sundance Film Festival blown away . Despite being one of Hollywood’s “It” actors, Torossian, who hasn’t worked with majors, says he likely faces an uphill battle amid his legal troubles.
“Jonathan Majors has had a pretty promising career so far, but as a rising star who’s not yet established, he has less credibility in the industry to pull himself through a situation like this,” he explains. “Partners like Marvel and other well-known names that had contracts with him were not quick to comment initially, but rather waited for further legal action to unfold. This argument may not be a complete career killer for him, but depending on how these proceedings play out, he may never have the career that many thought he was headed for after this year.”
Deadline reports that there are no major rewrite talks at Marvel. Yahoo reached out to Majors’ agent at WME for comment, but received no response. So far he is involved in two other lively projects. Majors will star as Dennis Rodman in 48 Hours in Vegas, a film about the NBA star’s impromptu trip to Las Vegas while he was playing for the Chicago Bulls. Yahoo has reached out to a representative for Rodman, who is producing the project, but have received no response. Majors is also signed on Amazon Studios’ upcoming film Da Understudy, which will be directed by Spike Lee. A studio representative did not respond when contacted by Yahoo.
Majors has kept a low profile amid the controversy. According to Page Six, he was due to attend the Met Gala on May 1, but will no longer be guest of Valentino for fashion’s biggest night. A source claimed Majors and the fashion house came to the decision “together”.
Torossian thinks it’s a good move for the actor to keep a low profile, suggesting he’s “staying out of social media and out of the spotlight for now.” Depending on how the court case unfolds, he believes the actor’s PR strategy may need to change.
“I would advise Jonathan to tell the truth if he hasn’t already. That, along with a public apology to the woman involved, would be a good place to start. From there we would come up with a plan that can be shared as it would work to improve, including domestic violence classes, anger management sessions – if appropriate, and working with foundations that help victims,” he shares.
Majors is scheduled to appear at a New York City courthouse on May 8.
“Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and likely the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows,” Majors’ criminal defense attorney Priya Chaudhry said after the incident. “We are rapidly gathering evidence and presenting it to the district attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped shortly.”
Chaudhry added that they have evidence including “video footage from the vehicle in which this episode took place, testimonies from the driver and others who saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman denying these allegations.” “
[Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Wednesday, April 19 at 12:50 p.m. ET and was updated to include the Variety report.]