The trial of rising Hollywood star Jonathan Majors has been delayed after prosecutors said they were not ready to go ahead with it at this time as they were still going through the discovery process. A new date has been set for September 6.
The Creed III star was arrested on March 25 for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea.
The trial was due to begin on charges of two counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment and attempted assault. While Majors has not publicly addressed the incident or his impending trial, his lawyer Priya Chaudhry, has had plenty to say to Newsweek about the charges and has long maintained his innocence.
In her latest statement to this publication, the lawyer said the "shameful ordeal" had been "excruciating" for Majors who had his "life, career, and reputation torn apart."
"One hundred and thirty-one days ago, authorities unjustly cuffed Jonathan Majors in his own home, hauling him off to jail based on the word of a woman now hunted by the NYPD," she said in an statement via email on Thursday.
"Bravely, Jonathan Majors laid bare to the NYPD the relentless, alcohol-fueled abuse he suffered at the hands of Grace Jabbari, an enduring nightmare in their relationship. Now, as soon as Jabbari sets foot back in New York, the NYPD stands ready to arrest her," she said.
Chaudhry added: "For an excruciating four months, Jonathan Majors, the real victim in this shameful ordeal, has had his life, career, and reputation torn apart. Yet he remains unwavering in his determination to be absolved from this harrowing ordeal."
On June 27, Chaudhry claimed Majors was "provably the victim here," and revealed he attended the Chinatown precinct on June 21 to make a complaint about Jabbari "to present them with evidence of what really happened on that night."
According to Chaudhry, the actor attended the precinct to tell officers Jabbari was "drunk and hysterical" and had attacked him in Chinatown, scratching and slapping his face.
Jabbari, who met Majors while working on the Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has yet to speak publicly about the incident and although NYPD officers at both the Chelsea and Chinatown precincts found probable cause to investigate her they did not arrest her. Prosecutors were reportedly reluctant to press charges and an "incident card" calling for her to attend questioning was cancelled.
The NYPD told Newsweek in a statement: "Regarding the incident that occurred on March 25, 2023, the investigation is ongoing. There are no additional arrests at this time."
Chaudhry had originally thanked the NYPD for finding probable cause to investigate Jabbari.
"Within hours of viewing the evidence, and conducting their own thorough investigation, the NYPD found probable cause to arrest Grace Jabbari for assaulting Jonathan Majors," Chaudhry told Newsweek. "Considering this development, we extend our gratitude to the NYPD detectives for their efforts."
Just days after police attended the Chelsea apartment, Chaudhry claimed it was actually Majors who called 911 in the first place and not Jabbari.
She also released text messages between the couple, seemingly in a bid to redeem Majors.
"They assured me that you won't be charged. They said they had to arrest you as a protocol when they saw the injuries on me and they knew we had a fight," one text message read. "I'm so angry they did. And I'm sorry you're in this position. Will make sure nothing happens about this. I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone. I only just got out of hospital."
A separate message read: "I love you."
Following his arrest in March, pundits wondered about the implications for Majors' career, especially as his star was on the rise in Hollywood. Last year he was named as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's new overarching villain, Kang the Conqueror, and starred in the Disney+ series Loki.
Prominent film critic and Marvel mega-fan Emmanuel "E-man" Noisette told Newsweek the charges could have an impact on Majors' Hollywood career, but if he was found innocent then he should have nothing to worry about.
"The news was shocking and disappointing given the rise of Jonathan Majors. In a short amount of time, he's become Hollywood's new darling," Noisette said in March.
Majors rose to fame in the HBO series Lovecraft Country but became a household name when he starred in Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The character Kang is set to also appear in the major upcoming Marvel films Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2026. He recently starred alongside Michael B. Jordan in the latest installment of the boxing film franchise, Creed 3 and presented alongside the actor at the 2023 Academy Awards.
But the repercussions of the arrest were swift and two U.S. Army ads featuring Majors were pulled in March. In April, he stepped down from the board of the Gotham Film and Media Institute and the Sidney Poitier Initiative.
Majors' publicists, the Lede Company, and management—Entertainment 360—also announced they were dropping the Marvel actor from their roster.
But in a surprise twist, Majors appeared in the new trailer for the second series of Loki.
The trailer, which was released earlier this week, revealed he will join Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson and newcomer Ke Huy Quan for the second season of the show. Disney also confirmed the new season will premiere on October 6, 2023.
Update 8/3/2023, 17:41 P.M. ET. This story has been updated to add extra background information.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
