Washington [US], December 19 : Actor Jonathan Majors was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. On Monday he was found guilty by a Manhattan jury of two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault but was acquitted on two other counts.
The verdict was reached by a six-person jury after roughly over four hours of deliberation spread across three days. Majors was found not guilty on one count of intentional assault in the third degree and one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree by a six-person jury. When the verdict was delivered, Majors, who was dressed in a dark grey suit and sat in the courtroom with his attorneys and current girlfriend Meagan Good, did not respond, reported Variety.
Judge Michael Gaffey set a February 6 sentence date. Majors faces up to a year in prison, although he might alternatively receive probation.
Majors was arrested in New York City in March after assaulting Jabbari in the backseat of a private vehicle. Jabbari, a 30-year-old dancer who met Majors on the set of Marvel's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," said that she seized Majors' phone after seeing a text message from another woman. Jabbari said she felt "a hard blow" across her head when Majors tried to forcefully retrieve his phone from her, resulting in bruises, swelling, and significant agony.
Marvel Studios severed its ties with Majors, who played the key villain, Kang the Conqueror, in Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, shortly after the guilty conviction. The 34-year-old actor was set to star in upcoming Marvel films, including 2025's 'Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,' as quoted by Variety.
According to his defence counsel, Priya Chaudhry, Majors "has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name."
"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, Chaudhry said.
The two-week trial ended in a lower Manhattan courtroom after the jury requested to hear the definition of harassment in the second degree, which is when a person is guilty of "intent to harass, annoy, or alarm" another person; "he or she strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects such other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same."
Before making a decision, the jury requested to see surveillance footage and testimony from a woman who went to a nightclub with Jabbari after the assault.
Variety reported that prosecutor Kelli Galloway told jurors throughout the trial that Majors was manipulative and controlling to Jabbari throughout their two-year relationship. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office released texts and audio recordings as evidence, in which Majors seemed to try to talk Jabbari out of going to the hospital for treatment of a head wound and threatened suicide after an altercation. Majors told Jabbari in an audio tape provided for the jury that she should act like Coretta Scott King and Michelle Obama because he's "a great man" who's "doing great things, not just for me, but for my country."
Galloway told the jury in her closing statement, "What this really boils down to is four simple words: control, domination, manipulation and abuse. [Those are the] tactics used by those who commit domestic violence against partners, against Grace."
Majors denied assaulting Jabbari, and his defence team claimed that the aggressor in the vehicle that night was Jabbari. The defence also claimed that Jabbari made up the claims to get back at with Majors after their separation. In her closing statement, Chaudhry referred to Jabbari as a "liar" who "bends reality."
The driver in the car on the night of the alleged incident testified last week, through an Urdu interpreter, that Majors "was not doing anything" to Jabbari in the vehicle. However, while Majors was attempting to exit the vehicle, he was "trying to throw her in," according to the driver: "I do remember [Majors] pushing her back into the car to get rid of her."
Before his arrest, Majors' career in Hollywood was on the rise. The Emmy-nominated actor featured in two 2023 tentpoles, "Ant-Man 3" and "Creed III," as well as the indie "Magazine Dreams," which Searchlight Pictures purchased at the Sundance Film Festival this year. Following the allegations, the company pulled the project off its release timetable.
Majors' management, Entertainment 360, and his public relations firm, the Lede Company, both dismissed him as a result of the aftermath. He is still represented by the talent agency WME.